The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has taken Exel Inc., which operates as DHL Supply Chain, to federal court, accusing the company of illegally denying a reasonable accommodation and then firing a temporary worker with sickle cell disorder from its Forest Park warehouse. According to the suit, a supervisor in January 2023 moved the worker into a position that kept her inside a cooler for long stretches, a setting that can trigger her condition, and she was let go after she asked either to limit her time in the cold or be moved to a different job. The EEOC is seeking money damages and policy changes aimed at preventing similar denials in the future.
What the EEOC alleges
In its complaint, the agency says the worker, who was hired through a staffing agency, was reassigned to a refrigerated area and then hit a wall when she tried to get help. Her requests for shorter shifts in the cold or a reassignment were turned down. According to CBS Atlanta, the EEOC says the company told her it "does not accommodate restrictions" before terminating her. The complaint also claims that other temporary workers were later converted to permanent roles while she was never offered a job.
The lawsuit and where it’s filed
The case landed in federal court in Atlanta after the EEOC says conciliation talks went nowhere. The agency is asking for back pay, front pay, compensatory and punitive damages, plus injunctive relief to change how the company handles similar situations, according to Disability Insider. Court filings list the case as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Exel Inc., Case No. 1:26-cv-01720, filed March 31, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, per Law360.
DHL’s response
DHL Supply Chain has kept its public reaction short. The company issued a brief statement saying it is "committed to providing a safe, respectful, and equitable workplace" and that it will investigate the allegations. That comment was provided to CBS Atlanta.
Why the ADA matters
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees unless doing so would cause an undue hardship to the business. That can include schedule tweaks, reassignment to open positions, or modified job duties. The EEOC’s enforcement guidance stresses that employers must engage in an interactive process with workers to explore those kinds of options when they are feasible, per EEOC guidance.
What to watch next
The case will now move through the federal court system in Atlanta, where discovery and a flurry of motions could set the schedule for either a trial or a settlement. Legal outlets that track employment litigation are already following the docket. Workplace advocates say the dispute could pressure logistics companies that operate cold-storage facilities to rethink broad "no-accommodation" rules that flatly reject medical restrictions, a shift that could ripple through hiring and scheduling practices at metro Atlanta warehouses monitored by Law360.
