Fry’s Food Stores to pay $120,000, overhaul disability policies after firing deaf employee

PHOENIX — Fry’s Food Stores has agreed to pay $120,000 and overhaul its workplace disability practices after the grocery chain refused to provide a sign language interpreter for a deaf employee and then fired him, according to court records.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge signed the consent decree March 27, resolving a lawsuit filed under the Arizona Civil Rights Act.

While Fry’s denied wrongdoing, the company agreed to the settlement to end the case quickly, according to the court filing. The settlement also sparks a flurry of internal changes across several West Valley locations.

Inside the state’s case against Fry’s

The employee, who was not identified in court records, had worked as a grocery clerk at the Fry’s near Cotton Lane and Greenway Road in Surprise since 2009. He was born deaf and used American Sign Language (ASL) as his primary form of communication.

State investigators with the Attorney General’s office said Fry’s repeatedly declined to hire an ASL interpreter despite the employee’s requests, instead relying on lipreading, written notes and, at times, asking family members to interpret.

The attorney general’s office said the grocer eventually cited the employee for insubordination after he refused to sign workplace investigation documents he could not understand and fired him.

The employee filed a discrimination charge with the state’s Civil Rights Division on Jan. 31, 2024.

Fry’s policy overhaul, interpreter access and a $120,000 payout

Under the settlement, Fry’s agreed to a long list of internal changes.

Among them, the company agreed to pay the former employee $120,000 and hire ASL interpreters for Arizona employees.

The chain agreed to rewrite its nondiscrimination and accommodation policies, conduct mandatory disability training for managers and human resources staff and report its progress to the state twice over the next year.

Fry’s parent company, Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, is an Arizona corporation headquartered in Tolleson. It operates about 130 grocery stores statewide under the Fry’s brand.

AG Mayes positions herself as a civil rights ‘backstop’

The case comes as the attorney general’s office has positioned its Civil Rights Division as “a critical backstop” in a period when federal enforcement is uncertain.

“When the federal government turns its back on civil rights, we will not,” Mayes said in a press release about the consent decree.

Mayes said the division investigated thousands of discrimination allegations and secured more than $2 million last year.

Fry’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment from KTAR News 92.3 FM.

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