Whole Foods Market, the Amazon-owned grocery powerhouse, has agreed to settle a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), following claims that a worker was unlawfully terminated after seeking pregnancy-related accommodations.
The settlement, announced Wednesday, requires Whole Foods to pay the employee a confidential financial sum and to overhaul its internal training on fair employment practices. The move comes after a Berkeley store worker accused the grocer of firing her for requesting medical accommodations tied to her pregnancy — a charge that the state deemed credible enough to trigger official action.
Whole Foods Agrees to New Training and Oversight
Under the terms of the agreement, Whole Foods will host in-person fair employment training sessions at its 2025 annual summit for all California-based human resources personnel. In addition, the company must ensure that store leaders statewide complete virtual interactive training on workers’ legal rights under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) — focusing specifically on protections for pregnant employees and workers with disabilities.
Whole Foods must also submit training materials and periodic reports on its disability accommodation policies to regulators for review. The grocery chain, however, did not admit liability or wrongdoing as part of the settlement.
