Hiland Dairy enters $140K settlement with EEOC

Springfield-based Hiland Dairy Foods Co. LLC reached a $140,000 settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The settlement resolves a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC in 2021, according to a news release from the federal agency.

In the suit, the EEOC alleged Hiland Dairy refused to hire a man at the company’s Norman, Oklahoma, plant because of his vision impairment.

Initially, Hiland offered the applicant a dairy plant worker position knowing he had a disability, but then withdrew the offer after a standard pre-employment medical exam, according to the release. The doctor responsible for the exam claimed the man was a “safety concern” because he was “legally blind," according to the lawsuit, despite never personally meeting or examining the man and basing his opinion on a vision test. Further, EEOC officials say Hiland and the doctor failed to consider whether assistive devices or other reasonable accommodations could have mitigated potential safety concerns.

The five-year consent decree requires Hiland Dairy to pay $140,000 in monetary damages to the applicant and adopt policies, enact procedures and provide employee training to ensure future compliance of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“Individuals with vision impairments successfully perform a wide variety of jobs throughout our economy every day,” said David Davis, acting director of the EEOC’s St. Louis District office, in the release. “Employers cannot neglect their obligation to provide reasonable accommodations to those workers based on unsubstantiated ‘safety concerns.’”

In a statement provided to Springfield Business Journal, Hiland Dairy President Gary Aggus said the company has disputed the EEOC's allegations and "denies any wrongdoing or violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act."

"Accordingly, we have resolved the disputed claims and are not admitting any wrongdoing or violations of the law; we agree to the settlement of disputed claims," the statement reads. "Hiland Dairy is pleased to end the nearly six-year-long proceedings and get back to what we do best, providing high-quality dairy products that our customers desire at a competitive price and setting high performance and quality control standards.

"We treat our greatest asset, our people, with dignity and respect."