Wisconsin Grocery Chain Sued for Pregnancy Discrimination

Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc., a grocery chain operating Pick ‘n Save and Metro Market stores, violated federal law when it fired an employee, who was also a nursing mother, for requesting an accommodation at her workstation to maintain her breast milk supply, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced.

According to the suit, the cake decorator asked to keep a water bottle at her workstation to maintain her milk supply. Roundy’s Pick ‘n Save location in Madison, Wisconsin initially accommodated the request. However, after Roundy’s transferred the employee to a Metro Market store in Shorewood Hills in June 2024, management refused the workstation water accommodation, leading to decline in her milk supply.

When she continued her requests for an accommodation, the company insisted she sign a release authorizing the company to access her private medical records. Ultimately, the company fired her rather than permit her to keep a water bottle at her workstation, the suit said.

This alleged conduct violated the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which requires employers to engage in the interactive process to accommodate employees’ pregnancy-related limitations, and prohibits employers from terminating workers because of their need for an accommodation. This conduct also violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the EEOC asserted, by demanding access to the employee’s medical records without job-related justification.

The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc., Case No. 3:26-cv-00241) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits