Butterball ADA Settlement Highlights Risks in Leave and Attendance Practices

The Alleged Accommodation Breakdown

The EEOC filed suit against Butterball on April 1, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. According to the agency, a long-term employee requested intermittent leave for chemotherapy and recovery after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis.

Butterball referred the employee to a third-party benefits administrator. The requested leave was not granted, and the employee received attendance points for cancer-related absences before being terminated under the company’s attendance policy.

The ADA may require an employer to modify an attendance rule when doing so would provide a reasonable accommodation without creating an undue hardship. Employers should not assign attendance points automatically when they know an absence may be related to a disability or other legally protected leave.

Settlement Requirements

Under a two-year consent decree, Butterball agreed to pay $230,000 and implement several compliance measures, including:
 

• Establishing procedures for processing ADA accommodation requests
• Designating an internal liaison to assist employees with the third-party administrator
• Providing leave policies in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole
• Training HR and benefits personnel on ADA requirements
• Submitting periodic compliance reports to the EEOC

The settlement resolves the lawsuit without a reported court finding on the merits. Its requirements apply specifically to Butterball, but illustrate the operational safeguards the EEOC expects employers to maintain.

Vendor Administration Does Not Eliminate Employer Responsibility

Outside administrators can improve consistency, but they may also create communication gaps among employees, HR, supervisors, and vendors. A delayed or incomplete vendor decision does not eliminate the employer’s obligation to evaluate whether the ADA requires an accommodation.

Notably, some leave vendors refuse to provide employers with copies of employee records, communications with the employee or updates on leave matters. Employers must have visibility into how their vendors communicate with their employees and process leave requests because it is the employer who will be held liable for any mistakes made by the vendor. Vendors may assert the information they have regarding an employee’s medical condition is protected under the ADA or HIPAA however, the employer is entitled to receive this information. Additionally, the employer must consider medical information and leave status when making decisions regarding continued leave as an accommodation, possible job modification, or termination of employment due to undue hardship. Finally, employers must preserve these records as part of an employee’s personnel file for up to four years following the end of employment and pursuant to various federal and state law requirements.

Employers should designate an internal owner for each leave or accommodation request. That person should monitor the matter from intake through resolution, coordinate with the employee and vendor, and escalate delays before an absence results in discipline. Employers must insist when contracting with their vendors that the employer must have visibility to all communications and records associated with the vendor’s provision of services to its employees, and that those records are the property of the employer and must be provided in full to the employer upon its request.

What Employers Should Do Now

Employers should consider taking the following steps:
 

• Review agreements with leave vendors and amend those that do not entitle employers access to all records and communications of the vendor’s communications to and from its employees, and entitlement to retain all copies of communications and records for its required personnel file documentation and record keeping.
• Employers should also ensure the agreement with the vendor contains a hold harmless, defend and indemnify provision for the vendor’s errors and omissions from any employee or third-party claims.
• Review attendance policies or practices: Identify provisions that automatically assign points or discipline for medical absences and prepare to grant exceptions where legally required.
• Add an ADA checkpoint: Require HR or legal review before disciplining an employee whose absences may be due to a medical condition.
• Audit vendor workflows: Confirm who monitors pending requests and addresses delayed or incomplete decisions.
• Create an escalation process: Give employees and managers an internal contact when the vendor process stalls.
• Train supervisors: Teach managers to recognize potential accommodation requests and refer them promptly to HR.
• Assess language access: Ensure employees can understand and use leave and accommodation procedures.
• Document each decision: Preserve records of requests, communications, the interactive process, accommodation decisions, and undue-hardship analyses.
• Require employees who seek leave to keep the employer informed in addition to communicating with the leave vendor.

Employers should build accommodation controls that work in practice, not merely on paper. Clear ownership, trained personnel, accessible policies, and meaningful review before imposing discipline can reduce the risk that a medical leave request becomes an ADA lawsuit.

Please reach out to Chris Gantt-Sorenson or a member of the firm’s Employment Law Team for additional information on this topic.