25-cent lemon results in $27,500 settlement

By Janet Adamy

June 14, 2000 Web posted at: 10:55 AM EDT (1455 GMT)

PLEASANTON, California (Contra Costa Times) -- It is probably the most expensive lemon Safeway's ever sold.

The Pleasanton grocery giant has agreed to pay $27,500 to a black woman who worked for the chain for 30 years and who was fired for buying a lemon at half-price -- 25 cents -- without getting her manager's approval.

The company is making the payment to settle a racial discrimination suit filed by Julia Stewart, who was fired from a Safeway in Leesburg, Va., the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Monday.

Stewart, who was in the habit of buying lemons before her shift to make lemon water, noticed that July's off-season lemons were poorer in quality than peak-season lemons. So, according to her lawyer, she swung a deal with store managers to buy the lemons for half-price.

After getting permission for the discount three times, she went ahead and bought the lemon at her usual discount in August 1997, without prior approval, said Diane Bradley, the lawyer. She was then suspended and later terminated, even after offering to pay full price for the lemon, Bradley said.

"The actions that Safeway took toward Ms. Stewart were similar to taking a sledge hammer to kill an ant," said Bradley, an EEOC attorney. "It was just quite extreme."

Safeway, which settled the suit without admission of guilt, contends that Stewart's actions constitute theft.

"We have consistently disciplined and terminated folks for this behavior across the board, and it is clearly without regard to their race," Safeway spokeswoman Debra Lambert said.

On top of that, Lambert said, Stewart on no occasion received permission to buy the lemons at a discount.

"She knew it wasn't OK, and that it was blatantly dishonest," Lambert said.

She added that the EEOC originally sought a six-figure settlement, and that Stewart's labor union didn't represent her throughout the entire case.

But Bradley contends that non-black Safeway employees got away with similar, if not more extreme, behavior. A white employee at the store bought two cases of beer at a 25 percent discount and only received a week's suspension. Employees of various races, including at least one manager, made bacon and sausage sandwiches without paying for all of the ingredients and didn't lose their jobs, Bradley said.

Lambert said Safeway was unaware of the incidents, and had the company known of them, they would have been investigated.

Safeway settled the suit last month because it didn't want to pay further litigation costs, Lambert said. The company also agreed to reinforce its equal employment opportunity training policies as part of the settlement.

Stewart sued for emotional pain and suffering she experienced as a result of the termination, but did not sue to get her job back.

Stewart, who is in her mid-50s, had worked at Safeway in several positions, including as a manager of the health and beauty section. During her 30-year career, she never received any disciplinary action.

Safeway employees do not receive a standard discount on merchandise. Safeway outlines in its employee handbooks its policy that employees are not allowed to give themselves discounts, and that any out-of-the-ordinary merchandise discounts -- such as for damaged merchandise -- must be approved by a store manager, Lambert said.

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