Kwik Trip Inc. has agreed to resolve a discrimination charge filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency has announced. As a result of successful conciliation efforts between the parties, the convenience-store retailer agreed to provide $35,000 to a former employee and committed to provide additional training on equal employment opportunity, including Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) training for all employees and managers to resolve a finding of disability discrimination.
“Under the ADA, employers must provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities,” said Victor Chen, an EEOC spokesperson.
According to the EEOC’s investigation, Kwik Trip hired an employee as a full-time guest service/kitchen associate in October 2021. In March 2022, the employee submitted a reasonable accommodation request to modify her work schedule and duties. While Kwik Trip initially intended to accommodate the employee’s medical restrictions, it misinterpreted the reasonable accommodation request and reduced the employee’s full-time work schedule to about nine hours per week, forcing her to resign.
Under the conciliation agreement resolving the charge, the former employee will receive $35,000 in back pay and compensatory damages.
Kwik Trip will retain an experienced consultant to train supervisors, managers and HR employees about their responsibilities and employees’ rights under the ADA. Kwik Trip will also provide compliance-related reporting to the EEOC. The EEOC will monitor compliance with these obligations for the next two years, it said.
Kwik Trip did not immediately respond to a CSP request for comment on this case.
Kwik Trip in June began construction on a 14,000-square-foot health center that will expand upon wellness offerings for employees, especially in post-surgery services and physical therapy, Ben Leibl, company spokesperson, told CSP in May. The center, which also will include a pharmacy solely for employees, will be added onto Kwik Trip’s daycare facility, which is about a five-minute drive from the company’s support center.
- Kwik Trip is No. 11 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
The La Crosse, Wisconsin-based convenience-store chain has nearly 900 locations and is one of the biggest independently held c-store chains in the country. It has locations in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin under the Kwik Trip banner and stores in Illinois, Iowa and South Dakota under the Kwik Star name. The chain will open its first c-store in North Dakota in November. Kwik Trip produces more than 80% of the products sold in its stores, supplied by its own bakery, commissary, dairy and distribution center.
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