Anyone wanna buy a half-eaten donut?

Lasher

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I'll comment on this below:

Giant Eagle reaches settlement with former employee

Man with Down syndrome was fired in case involving donut

Saturday, March 06, 2004

By Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A weeklong trial that pitted a former supermarket bagger with Down syndrome against one of the region's top employers of people with disabilities ended yesterday with an undisclosed settlement.

David Warnes, 37, of Bethel Park, a former Giant Eagle employee, sued the supermarket chain for firing him after he ate half a donut and put the other half back in the box for sale.

A federal jury on Thursday ruled that the chain had violated Warnes' rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but the jury hadn't yet decided on a damage award.

Before it could, the parties hashed out an agreement that will remain secret, and Warnes quietly left the courthouse with his family.

"He was pleased," said his mother, Carol. "[But] he doesn't really comprehend the legal system."

As the jury met with the judge, Giant Eagle's officers and its trial lawyer huddled to examine the numbers.

"We disagreed with the jury's verdict," said Rob Borella, director of corporate communications for Giant Eagle, "but we thought it was appropriate to reach a settlement."

Warnes' lawyers, civil rights attorney Timothy O'Brien and Mark Murphy of the Disabilities Law Project, said the supermarket fired Warnes in 2002 after he ate half a donut from an Entenmann's bakery display in the Village Square store in Bethel Park.

"We argued that he didn't understand the consequences of his action," said Murphy, deputy executive director of the Law Project.

"He acted on impulse," said Carol Warnes. "He didn't intentionally steal it."

But Borella said Warnes was fired after he put the half-eaten part back in the box.

"He put the box back on the shelf where it could be purchased by customers," he said.

He also said Warnes had a history of workplace problems.

"Prior to this situation, the company had worked with Warnes for nine years to coach and train him on appropriate conduct," he said later in a statement. "Unfortunately, this coaching and training had not been successful, because numerous problems with his job performance persisted."

Borella also pointed out that Giant Eagle employs hundreds of people with disabilities and is recognized for giving them opportunities to advance.

Last October, the U.S. Department of Labor honored the grocery chain with a New Freedom Initiative Award under a program started by President Bush for "outstanding employment practices toward people with disabilities," according to a news release.

Under "Project Opportunity," started in 1991, Giant Eagle created a school-to-work mentoring program for Pittsburgh public school students who have visual, hearing, mobility and learning disabilities. Graduates receive permanent positions with the company.

The company has won other awards and sponsors disability awareness training every two years for its human resources managers.

Borella and Giant Eagle's trial counsel would not comment on any of the testimony or evidence presented in court.

But O'Brien said the chain initially claimed Warnes was fired for violating the employee theft policy, then said at trial that he was fired for his past work performance. O'Brien said the past performance defense had no merit because Warnes had never before violated the theft policy and had not been disciplined for any violation since 1998.

The lawsuit sought damages for lost wages, reimbursement for the difficulty Warnes would have in finding another job, emotional distress, embarrassment and humiliation.

Warnes, who is unemployed, doesn't want his job back. His mother said he's attending workshop training for a different job.

A state unemployment compensation board ruled in 2002 that he was eligible for lost wages.
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I just read this and I'm not sure what I think. We've shopped at this store in the past and one of the reasons we stopped is because of the large number of disabled persons they have working as baggers. It's a recently remodled store, very large with all the goodies you want from a large supermarket. But we just got tired of the slowness of the lines and the poor job done by their baggers. We quit going there before they added self-checkouts, and have since become quite comfortable with another nearby, smaller store of the same chain.

My gut feeling is that this is just a poor application of the law. I'm thinking you have to have some level of standards when running business and if you have an employee that does not understand this or the appropriatness of his/her actions then you should be able to terminate that employee without repercussion.
 
Lasher said:


I just read this and I'm not sure what I think. We've shopped at this store in the past and one of the reasons we stopped is because of the large number of disabled persons they have working as baggers. It's a recently remodled store, very large with all the goodies you want from a large supermarket. But we just got tired of the slowness of the lines and the poor job done by their baggers. We quit going there before they added self-checkouts, and have since become quite comfortable with another nearby, smaller store of the same chain.

My gut feeling is that this is just a poor application of the law. I'm thinking you have to have some level of standards when running business and if you have an employee that does not understand this or the appropriatness of his/her actions then you should be able to terminate that employee without repercussion.

When is it ok to fire someone with a disability/special need? It seems that this company does a lot of work to help disabled people out, yet gets the shaft when they make what seems to be a sound decision in firing the guy.

They've tried to help this guy for nine years....NINE years. That's quite a bit of effort.
 
just fired? they shouldve sued his ass as well. there are a lot of things which mentally handicapped people cannot understand, but opening a fresh box of food, eating some, then putting it back for sale is not one of them.
 
I agree. I'm all for hiring anyone but if you cant be sure they are not going to take bites out of the food here and there what other choice do you have? Certainly one should not be sued over it...but apparently they are paying for it now sad to say.
 
Re: Re: Anyone wanna buy a half-eaten donut?

Bob_Bytchin said:
When is it ok to fire someone with a disability/special need? It seems that this company does a lot of work to help disabled people out, yet gets the shaft when they make what seems to be a sound decision in firing the guy.

They've tried to help this guy for nine years....NINE years. That's quite a bit of effort.


word. that struck a chord with me. disabled or not, they were right to fire him. if the guy is unable to work he shouldn't. isn't that what the welfare system is{ or at least should be} for?
 
Re: Re: Re: Anyone wanna buy a half-eaten donut?

killallhippies said:
word. that struck a chord with me. disabled or not, they were right to fire him. if the guy is unable to work he shouldn't. isn't that what the welfare system is{ or at least should be} for?

i dont find that reasonable argument. welfare is like 4 dollars a year. then again, thats why mcdonalds has the dollar menu. ba-da-ba-ba-ba im lovin' it!
 
This really isn't as tough a call as it seems.

People with disabilities should be assimilated into the workforce when possible. However, there are certain standards which every job demands. We cannot lower the bar when the safety and health of the public is involved.

If this employee had a history of poor job performance, he should have been transferred to a job that was equal to his abilities and that did not impact the customers. The consumer has a reasonable expectation that the products they buy are safe and unadulterated.

Stocking shelves, sweeping floors, offloading shipments or rounding up grocery carts are all jobs that could have been within his capability and had less impact on the public.

I doubt that the ADA requires companies to offer employment to people who can't meet the minimum standards for specific positions.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Anyone wanna buy a half-eaten donut?

apexpark said:
i dont find that reasonable argument. welfare is like 4 dollars a year. then again, thats why mcdonalds has the dollar menu. ba-da-ba-ba-ba im lovin' it!


it is reasonable when you realize what i meant by should be, but since i left it open to interpretation i understand.
 
My bread has been smashed enough times by snotty teenagers that I would take my chances on a half eaten doughnut.
 
Man the store got the shaft and they should have fought it, they just gave up.

The guy should not have been working if he does not know right from wrong.

And the group behind the guy that sued will get most of the money.
 
It's more than a little funny that this man who "didn't understand the consequences of his action" and "doesn't really comprehend the legal system," had enough savvy to sue in federal court.

No one wants to play heartless bastard, but I do think a company in the food-selling business should be expected to maintain certain standards, and placing half-eaten food on sale (which was a risk in this situation) would seem to fall below those standards.

I question if there's a problem with this guy that goes beyond the Down Syndrome, since I don't think people with Down's are necessarily unable to understand directions and follow orders. It also sounds like Giant Eagle might have hurt itself by not establishing a paper trail of warnings, disciplinary actions, etc. They probably tried to help this guy quietly without marking up his work record, and it came back to bite them when it ended up in court and they couldn't prove that this had been a problem for 9 years. No good deed goes unpunished.
 
SaintPeter said:
My bread has been smashed enough times by snotty teenagers that I would take my chances on a half eaten doughnut.

I'll send you a box.
 
I wonder how much the lawsuit would have been from the person who might have purchased the box.

and someone mentioned he could be a stock boy or bagger. He probably was but that woulnd't prevent him from opening a box as he strolled down the aisle.

One can only wonder what the settlement was...
 
Re: Re: Anyone wanna buy a half-eaten donut?

apexpark said:
just fired? they shouldve sued his ass as well. there are a lot of things which mentally handicapped people cannot understand, but opening a fresh box of food, eating some, then putting it back for sale is not one of them.


I nominate this for dumbass post of the day.

Actually, doing what this poor retard did is a really good example of how a mentally handicapped person's mind operates.


(+10 points to me for using both "retard" and "mentally handicapped person" in the same sentence.)
 
Re: Re: Re: Anyone wanna buy a half-eaten donut?

Problem Child said:



(+10 points to me for using both "retard" and "mentally handicapped person" in the same sentence.)


Its no wonder you do since your father called you a retard ten times a day for 20 years.

Its sortof ingrained in your cellulite encrusted brain.

Where ya been fatboy?
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: Anyone wanna buy a half-eaten donut?

Killswitch said:
Its no wonder you do since your father called you a retard ten times a day for 20 years.

Its sortof ingrained in your cellulite encrusted brain.

Where ya been fatboy?


Working.

You're welcome.
 
Re: Re: Re: Anyone wanna buy a half-eaten donut?

Problem Child said:
I nominate this for dumbass post of the day.

Actually, doing what this poor retard did is a really good example of how a mentally handicapped person's mind operates.


(+10 points to me for using both "retard" and "mentally handicapped person" in the same sentence.)

I didn't know if I agreed with that either....some tardos would NOT realize that that was wrong. As to whether they should have fired him, well........I agree that it'd be good to give him a job that didn't require as much customer interaction, but that would change the debate because: People protest against the challenged being put to work in places "out of view of the public" like we use them as secret work slaves. Its messed.
 
Agent99 said:
This really isn't as tough a call as it seems.

People with disabilities should be assimilated into the workforce when possible. However, there are certain standards which every job demands. We cannot lower the bar when the safety and health of the public is involved.

If this employee had a history of poor job performance, he should have been transferred to a job that was equal to his abilities and that did not impact the customers. The consumer has a reasonable expectation that the products they buy are safe and unadulterated.

Stocking shelves, sweeping floors, offloading shipments or rounding up grocery carts are all jobs that could have been within his capability and had less impact on the public.

I doubt that the ADA requires companies to offer employment to people who can't meet the minimum standards for specific positions.


u r smart.
 
A place that sells food has to maintain the health of the customers and placing a half eaten doughnut is simply not exeptable. If it were anyone else they would have recieved the same treatment I'm sure. Special exceptions can exist on a case by case basis I'm sure but those exceptions can only go so far. If hes been working there for nine years then he should understand that what he did was wrong and that appropriate action would have to be taken against him. If he can't accept the consequences of his actions (which is a matter for debate I admit) then he needs to be in a position where that isn't as much of a concern.
 
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