Pet store giant PETCO Animal  Supplies Stores, Inc. will pay $145,000 and furnish other relief to settle a  disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity  Commission (EEOC), the agency announced.  The EEOC had charged the company with failing to accommodate a deaf pet  groomer formerly employed at one of its stores in Aurora, Colo.

According to the EEOC, San Diego-based  PETCO hired Nancy Buchner – who has over 30 years’ pet grooming experience – as  a pet stylist in 2001. Profoundly deaf  since birth, Buchner communicates most effectively in sign language. Upon hire, PETCO’s management assured Buchner that  other employees would assist in scheduling her appointments via telephone as a  reasonable accommodation.

However, the EEOC asserted that a  PETCO manager eventually refused to schedule customers for her, despite requests  for Buchner specifically. In fact, PETCO  employees inaccurately informed customers that Buchner no longer worked for  the company as a means to funnel them to non-disabled pet groomers, according  to the EEOC. PETCO proceeded to unfairly  penalize her during annual performance reviews for ineffective communication  skills due to her inability to speak. Buchner  eventually resigned in 2006.

The EEOC filed suit against PETCO  in April 2009 in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado (Equal  Employment Opportunity Commission v. PETCO  Animal Supplies Stores, Inc., Case No. 09-CV-00747 WYD-CBS), asserting that PETCO  failed to reasonably accommodate Buchner and subjected her to disparate  treatment due to her disability, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The investigation and litigation of the case was  a  joint venture between the EEOC’s Denver Field Office, under the purview of the Phoenix  District Office, and the Los Angeles District Office, which negotiated the final  three-year consent decree settling the suit.

Aside from the monetary relief, the decree requires PETCO to  implement an internal policy, procedures and staff training to safeguard  against disability discrimination. PETCO  must also submit annual reports to the EEOC to track future complaints of  disability bias and requests for disability-related accommodations.