Wendy’s International, LLC violated federal law when it discriminated against a district manager because of disability and age, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced.
According to the lawsuit, Wendy’s International, LLC, which owns and operates fast food restaurants nationwide, employed a district manager who worked for the company and its franchises since the early 1990s. In 2022, the Columbus, Ohio-based district manager, who was in his early 50s, went on approved medical leave for disability-related surgery.
Although his healthcare provider released him to return to work after surgery, Wendy’s would not let him return, required him to remain on leave, conditioned his employment on his ability to work without any restrictions, and then fired him, according to the lawsuit. Wendy’s also demonstrated a preference for younger workers in the years surrounding the district manager’s termination, according to the EEOC.
Conduct as alleged in the complaint violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which prohibit disability discrimination and age discrimination, respectively. The ADA also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities unless it would cause undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Wendy’s International, LLC, Case No. 2:25-cv-01516) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
Source: EEOC
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Lawsuits
Ohio
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