Doug Kuykendall v. Les Schwab

Doug Kuykendall worked at Les Schwab for 20 years. In September 2019 management told Mr. Kuykendall that his store was being closed. As part of the closing process Mr. Kuykendall’s manager allowed Mr. Kuykendall to take a never used air compressor home as there was no policy against doing so and that practice had been followed before. Within weeks of that happening HR investigated. As part of the investigation Mr. Kuykendall’s boss (the person who allowed him to take the compressor home) told HR that Mr. Kuykendall should not be investigated because he did nothing wrong and that the air compressor decision was his, i.e. the manager’s. HR then interviewed Mr. Kuykendall and during that interview Mr. Kuykendall begged to keep his job because the job’s benefits paid for his daughter’s monthly $9,000 medical bills. HR told Mr. Kuykendall he wasn’t being fired. But days later Les Schwab fired Mr. Kuykendall. Mr. Kuykendall sued for associational disability discrimination, alleging Les Schwab fired him to avoid having to pay his daughter’s medical bills, an act that is illegal under the American’s With Disabilities Act (ADA). A copy of Mr. Kuykendall’s compliant is available here.

Les Schwab tried to dismiss all of Mr. Kuykendall’s claims. On April 25, 2022, the Court denied the majority of Les Schwab’s motion. A copy of Summary Judgment order is available below.