Fry’s Food Stores will pay $120,000 to settle a state discrimination case after Arizona officials said the chain denied an American Sign Language interpreter to a deaf employee and failed to provide effective accommodations. The worker, who was born deaf and uses ASL as his first language, started as a grocery clerk in 2009 at a Fry’s near Loop 303 and Greenway Road in Surprise and later reported the alleged discrimination to state investigators in January 2024. Under the agreement, Fry’s must change how it handles accommodation requests for deaf employees in Arizona.
Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office said the employee reported the alleged discrimination in January 2024. According to the state, Fry’s relied on lip-reading, written notes and family members instead of providing a qualified interpreter during training sessions, and the employee was later accused of insubordination and fired without effective accommodations, according to Arizona’s Family.
The matter was handled by the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division, which has listed a case against Smith’s Food and Drug Centers d/b/a Fry’s as pending in Maricopa County Superior Court. In a March report, the office said the Civil Rights Division recovered more than $2 million for discrimination victims in fiscal year 2025, per the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
What the settlement requires
Under the agreement, Fry’s will pay the former employee $120,000 and adopt several new measures in Arizona. Those include building relationships with ASL interpreting agencies that can provide in-person and video remote interpreting, and training managers and human resources staff on disability accommodation requirements. The deal also calls for guidance to help store supervisors recognize and respond to accommodation requests, according to Arizona’s Family.
Legal context
Federal civil-rights rules require covered entities to provide “effective communication,” and qualified sign-language interpreters are among the auxiliary aids that may be necessary to meet that standard, according to ADA.gov. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also enforces requirements that employers provide reasonable accommodations for known disabilities unless doing so would impose an undue hardship, according to the EEOC.
Mayes’ statement
“Every one of these cases represents a real Arizonan who faced discrimination in their job, their home, or their community,” Mayes said in a statement from the Attorney General’s Office, per the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. She added that her office is committed to protecting Arizonans from unlawful discrimination and ensuring meaningful workplace access for people with disabilities…