Lawsuit Alleges Chick-fil-A Wont Hire Individuals With Disabilities

[n2doc]

Chick-fil-A is regularly regarded as the fast food chain with the friendliest customer service, but a recently filed lawsuit alleges the chain’s hiring practices aren’t as nice. An Illinois man claims he was denied a job at Chick-fil-A because he has autism, Courthouse News reports.

James Kwon says he “was blocked from applying” for a job at an Orland Park, Ill., Chick-fil-A because of his disability, according to a court filing from December 23. That would be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The lawsuit claims Kwon completed a work-study program at another Orland Park restaurant in 2013, and he worked with a job coach to land a full-time position at Chick-fil-A in 2014. But, a branch manager allegedly did not allow the 25-year-old to apply.

“The branch manager responded that Chick-fil-A was not interested in hiring people with disabilities,” the lawsuit states. “When the job coach reiterated that she thought James would do a good job, the branch manager stated that people with disabilities would not be able to succeed at Chick-fil-A.”

more
http://www.eater.com/2016/12/28/14105238/chick-fil-a-lawsuit-disabilities

How 'christian' of them

[Zambero]

1. My patronage of this food chain holds at zero

Hopefully this punitive policy toward people with disabilities gets the publicity it deserves.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

2. FWIW, the one time I ate at a Chik-fil-a there was a young mentally challenged person working there.

She was working the floor, directly and ably interacting with diners while collecting trays and such.
This was about a month ago. Location was about 15 miles northwest of the one in the story.

Oh, and the sandwich-- meh.

[Ms. Toad]

5. Likely separate franschises, owned by different people.

Chik-fil-A's business model is franchises owned by independent entrepeneurs.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

7. Ah. I read "branch manager" and it sounded corporate to me, like someone responsible for multiple...

...stores.

[Ms. Toad]

10. Some franchisees may own multiple stores -

so "branch manager" might refer to the franchisee/owner of a collection of local Chik-fil-As, the term "branch manager" was used in the complaint (generally drafted before all of the various relationships are clear - and the attorney may have used the phrase used to the plaintiff), and the reporting media may not be aware of the legal distinctions.

Or it may actually be owned directly by Chik-fil-A, even though their general model is the franchise model. Although I doubt it since the specific Chik-fil-A was named separately from the corporate entity in the lawsuit.

[Lurks Often]

3. The branch manager is likely to be un-employed in the near future

I rather doubt the corporate office is going to allow that branch manager to keep his job.

[Ms. Toad]

4. They are mostly franchises with independent hiring practices.

They could possibly lose their franchise, but that would be a much more significant action.

(That is not to say that their hiring practice is legal - just that a quick corporate termination of the "branch" manager isn't likely to be part of the solution.)

[Lurks Often]

8. Wikipedia says Chick-fil-A owns ALL of the restaurants

However sells an opportunity to operate a restaurant for either $5000 (Wiki) or $10000 (Chick-fil-A website)

Either way, Chick-fil-A is unlikely to tolerate the behavior of that manager, so either the manager will be fired or the franchise owner will lose the franchise rights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick-fil-A

[Ms. Toad]

9. Wikipedia is not a definitive source for information.

From Chik-fil-A:

Most Chick-fil-A Restaurant businesses are owned and operated by entrepreneurial, franchised Operators who seek to be in business for themselves, not by themselves. They recruit, hire, train and manage their own employees, handle all matters regarding team member employment at their restaurants, and set their own employment policies and procedures.

https://www.chick-fil-a.com/Careers

Terminating a franchise requires much more than firing a manager. The vast majority of employees are "at-will" employees - which means they can fire you instantly if they don't like the color of your eyes or hair or how you smile. To get your job back you have to go to court to establish they fired you for one of few imperissible reasons.

With franchises, it is the opposite. Franchises are nearly always subject to a formal contract, with enumerated reasons the contract CAN be terminated (rather than a few for which it cannot), and the court battle often comes before the termination - rather than after.

The two play out very differently becuase of the difference in power of a franchisee v. an employee.

[otohara]

6. The ADA Is Great For Access, Not So Much

when it comes to lawsuits against giant corporations.

Right to work means right to fire, right to not hire - right to do what ever the fuck they want to employees including the disabled
employees.

[Maru Kitteh]

11. That place sounds really disgusting anyway. I would never go there.

Support your local food joints, they serve actual food.

[Lurks Often]

12. United States EEOC investigated and found no case

The news story has been updated:

http://www.eater.com/2016/12/28/14105238/chick-fil-a-lawsuit-disabilities