A Jefferson Parish jury has found the Hobby Lobby in Harahan liable for discriminating against a longtime customer with intellectual disabilities, awarding him $10,000 in damages. The decision stems from a 2023 confrontation at the Elmwood-area store that ended with the customer briefly jailed and later declared incompetent to stand trial, and it marks a rare in-person jury ruling against the national crafts chain in a public accommodations case.
According to WWL-TV, jurors concluded that 66-year-old Charles George had been discriminated against and set damages at $10,000, far below the roughly $450,000 his family had sought. The station reports that George, a familiar face at the store, saw his treatment change after a new manager took over in June 2023.
How A Hobby Run Ended In Handcuffs
As outlined in U.S. District Court records, the clash unfolded on November 27, 2023, when George asked a cashier to total up items so he could stay within his $100 weekly allowance. The filings state that manager Heather Ford told employees not to assist him, calling the request a "waste of time." When George later returned to retrieve belongings, Ford allegedly ordered him off the property, which led deputies to respond.
The court documents say a deputy pepper-sprayed George and others at the scene and arrested him on a charge of resisting arrest. Prosecutors later declined to move forward with the criminal case after George was deemed incompetent to stand trial.
Jury’s Ruling And Hobby Lobby’s Defense
The jury agreed that George was discriminated against because of his disability but opted for relatively modest compensatory damages rather than the larger sum his family requested, according to WWL-TV. Attorneys for Hobby Lobby argued that the retailer has the right to remove a customer they view as "belligerent," and court records indicate George is still banned from the Harahan location.
Why The Ruling Matters
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires businesses open to the public to make reasonable changes to their usual policies and practices for customers with disabilities, as explained on ADA.gov. Those obligations are at the center of disputes like George’s.
In 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a separate disability-related settlement with Hobby Lobby that involved a monetary payment and policy changes, highlighting how similar conflicts can draw federal attention, the EEOC said. In such cases, courts weigh whether the requested accommodation was reasonable or whether it would have imposed an undue burden or fundamentally changed the services the business offers.
What Comes Next
The lawsuit filed by George’s family sought injunctive relief and roughly $450,000 in damages, but jurors landed on the $10,000 award, according to the U.S. District Court docket. With the verdict now on the books, the case could prompt post-trial motions or an appeal, and it may nudge retailers to take a harder look at how managers are trained to handle customers who rely on staff assistance at the checkout line.
