Companies deny firing man unfairly

Former employee says he was let go because of HIV

The managers of a Bentonville McDonald’s franchise accused of firing a man because he has HIV denied the claim and said the man wasn’t protected by federal disability law, according to federal court filings this month.

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in July filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming Mathews Management and the affiliated company Peach Orchard Inc. violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by firing the unidentified man in 2015 soon after learning of his HIV status and by requiring employees to disclose their prescription medications.

Mathews denied the claims in a statement shortly afterward, and both companies told the court last week the man was fired for violating work attendance policy, contradicting the commission’s claim other employees with similar violations weren’t fired.

The companies laid out several other legal defenses as well, including that they had nondiscrimination policies in place. They also wrote the plaintiff wasn’t a “qualified individual with a disability” and “could not perform the essential functions of his position with or without a reasonable accommodation.”

The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers and companies providing services to the public from discriminating against people because of physical or mental impairments, including conditions such as HIV that hamper the body’s defense against disease. The law protects only employees who can perform their jobs with “reasonable accommodation” that isn’t an “undue hardship” on the employer.

Mathews Management oversees about three dozen McDonald’s locations in and around Benton and Washington counties. It and Peach Orchard are both led by Bill and Walter Mathews, according to Arkansas Secretary of State records.

Rodrick Holmes, a Tennessee attorney representing the companies, didn’t return a request for comment Friday.

The recent filings are part of a back-and-forth between the disputing sides that could eventually lead to a jury trial. Judge Timothy L. Brooks has scheduled a case management hearing for Oct. 28, according to online federal court records.

The former employee, referred to as John Doe, joined the Bentonville location just west of Interstate 49 in late 2014, according to the lawsuit. He worked at a register and the drive-through, cleaned and helped open and close the restaurant.

In February 2015, the restaurant’s general manager asked the man if he was in a relationship with another employee. The man revealed he was HIV-positive, and the manager said that meant he had to be let go. Another manager a few days before also had said the man’s HIV status could lead to his firing, the lawsuit states. He was fired the same month.

An amended version of the original lawsuit also was filed last week by Fayetteville attorney Joshua Bailey, who’s now representing the plaintiff. It adds several new claims, including the companies “built a fake discipline file” against the plaintiff for workplace violations that didn’t happen. Bailey didn’t return a message Friday requesting comment.

The Mathews companies’ answers don’t address the new claims because they were filed around the same time. They can file an amended response later.