A diabetic gets fired over a $1.69 drink and Dollar General must now pay her $277,656.
For God's sake, if your employee needs a drink, especially if she's diabetic, just let her have it already.
That's what Dollar General learned after a federal jury sided with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a case against the retail giant.
The story goes like this. Back in September 2014, an insulin-dependent diabetic cashier in Dollar General's Maryville, Tenn., store told her supervisor she needed to keep juice near the cash register in case of a hypoglycemic attack. According to testimony at the trial, the supervisor did not allow employees to do this, although the company has a policy that would allow it for those in need.
One day, fearing an oncoming attack, the cashier drank a $1.69 (plus tax) orange juice before paying for it. The cashier said after the symptoms passed she paid for the juice. After a question about inventory arose, the employee confessed to her brazen crime of drinking before buying to the company's district manager who then fired said employee for violating the chain's "grazing" policy.
Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-dollar-general-diabetic-worker-lawsuit-20160926-story.html#nt=oft13a-21gp1
For additional reference: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/9-19-16a.cfm