Our Take
The settlement dismantles a blanket policy that was ADA-illegal from the start; the real test is whether four years of EEOC monitoring actually changes how franchise managers evaluate individual accommodation requests.
Why it matters
Disability accommodation disputes are escalating across quick-service restaurants and franchise operations, where turnover-focused management often defaults to one-size-fits-all leave rules. This case shows the EEOC is willing to enforce individual assessment requirements with ongoing supervision.
Do this week
HR leads: audit your medical leave and return-to-work policies this month against the ADA's individualized assessment requirement so you can flag blanket-recovery language before an investigator does.
Franchisees abandon a policy that locked out workers with disabilities
Daly/Kenney Group and 15 related Dunkin' franchisees operating in New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts agreed to settle disability discrimination allegations brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The settlement totals $250,000 in compensation for affected employees (per the EEOC). Since March 2013, these franchisees had enforced a "100% healed" policy that placed employees with medical restrictions on unpaid, indefinite leave and denied return to work unless they produced documentation of full recovery from all medical limitations. The companies also mixed medical records directly into personnel files.
Under the settlement terms, the franchisees must eliminate the policy within 30 days and update employee handbooks within 60 days. All supervisors and HR staff must receive ADA accommodation training. Employees receive annual training on their right to request accommodations. The EEOC will monitor compliance for four years, requiring the franchisees to report every accommodation request and decision every six months and reserving the right to conduct independent audits with five days' notice.
The ADA requires individualized assessment, not medical gatekeeping
The "100% healed" policy was a categorical rejection disguised as a health standard. The Americans with Disabilities Act does not permit employers to deny accommodation simply because an employee has a medical condition, temporary or permanent. Employers must evaluate each request on its merits, consider whether the employee can perform essential job functions with reasonable accommodations, and approve accommodations unless they create undue hardship to the business.
A blanket requirement for full medical recovery and mixing medical records into personnel files violate this individualized-assessment obligation. The EEOC's Regional Attorney stated: "100%-healed policies are rooted in outdated prejudices about workers with disabilities and do not belong in the modern workplace." What matters here is not the dollar amount but the enforcement mechanism: four years of mandatory reporting and audits create structural accountability where a settlement payment alone might not.
Test your leave and accommodation policies for blanket language
Any leave policy that requires full medical recovery, mandates physician sign-off as a condition of return, or applies identical restrictions to all medical absences is vulnerable. Review your employee handbook for phrases like "fully recovered," "fit for duty without restrictions," or "cleared by physician." Replace them with language that commits to individualized assessment and the interactive process required by the ADA.
Separate medical documentation (which you may request) from personnel records. Train managers that "no restrictions" is not the legal standard; the standard is whether the employee can perform essential functions with or without reasonable accommodation. For franchise operations especially, this becomes a compliance liability if central policy contradicts local practice. The EEOC's willingness to impose four years of monitoring signals that settlement agreements no longer close these cases; structural change does.