What started as a blunt shock eventually developed into cold shoulders, Eric Collins said.

A friendly conversation with a longtime customer ended on a jaw-dropping remark when another cashier chimed in.

“The cashier said if I joined the Navy, I would look more queer than I already do,” said Collins, 25. “She laughed about it and said they have a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.”

“Queer” is a historically maligned slur, particularly for gay men.

-Messenger photo by Elijah Decious
Fort Dodge’s Family Dollar could soon face a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit from a former assistant manager who says upper management refused to curtail inappropriate treatment and forced him to work with flu-like symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Collins, who has been out and openly gay since age 18, said he grew up going to school with the cashier. But despite growing up exposed to people like Collins, the cashier’s alleged behavior didn’t reflect a developed tolerance or acceptance of LGBT people.

“If I talked about my fiance, I’d get disgusted looks from cashiers and management there,” Collins said. “They could talk about their personal lives and be OK, but when I talk about my fiance going back to Nebraska to visit family, it would be shut down.”

Soon thereafter, that subtlety turned into an untenable work environment when Collins reported the incidences to his district manager, skipping over the store manager he knew was good friends with the cashier.

But he said the district manager didn’t believe him–flat out.

Even though it’s not the first time he has experienced jokes about an innate feature, he said it’s the first time they’ve been mean-spirited enough to affect his mental state. To not be believed added insult to injury.

“Every day after that, I just wanted to walk out of Family Dollar,” Collins said. “I’ve never wanted to quit a job as badly as I did there.”

But the final straw came after Collins put up with refused requests to be scheduled with other cashiers when he was forced to go to work with flu-like symptoms in the middle of a pandemic, even with a doctor’s note.

Collins resigned on March 21, two days after the retaliatory incident.

What started as figurative cold shoulders became literal ones as he struggled through a shift in March with body aches and chills. His doctor advised him not to work for both his health and the health of those around him.

But local management told the ill assistant manager that the only way for him to get a few days to recover would be to take an unpaid leave of absence without a guarantee of re-hire, Collins said.

All he wanted was a correction of the problem. But now, his attorney said he wants justice for his situation as he finds himself displaced as many retail businesses are closed or face restrictions.

“We’re not talking millions of dollars here, or a trip to the Bahamas,” said discrimination employment attorney Nathan Vos, of Vos Law Firm in West Des Moines. “What we want is justice here. We know there was a wrong done and Family Dollar is responsible for that wrong.”

He said that it’s incumbent on employers to correct problematic issues with employees and ensure that discrimination doesn’t happen again, because it sets a critical tone that future employees–both perpetrators and victims of discrimination — will take note of.

“Everything had changed as far as the dynamic goes in the workplace,” Vos said of Collins’ situation, “which happens frequently when you report discrimination.”

Because of the dynamics of underreporting, caused by employees being dependent on the yoke of their employer to survive, Vos said discrimination happens “day in and day out,” often going unchecked.

But what made the case even more maddening was the way that Family Dollar carried out retaliation by forcing an obviously sick employee to work, endangering not only other employees but the customers that keep the store alive., he said.

“That’s the most unbelievable part. I get discrimination cases all the time, and I don’t talk to reporters about it,” he said, having handled hundreds of discrimination cases. “This raised my eyebrows.”

They gave Family Dollar a chance to correct the situation before filing the civil rights complaint out of care for other hourly employees who might be forced to work while sick during a public health emergency. Family Dollar refused to acknowledge any of the facts they presented, Vos said.

“As always, associates that are ill should not report to work and should utilize paid time off or sick time,” said Kayleigh Painter, manager of investor and media relations for Dollar Tree, Inc., parent company of Family Dollar.

Family Dollar’s corporate office in Virginia said it has suspended its attendance policy in light of COVID-19, in response to an inquiry from The Messenger.

Painter did not respond to follow-ups asking when the policy was suspended or how much paid time off hourly associates typically receive.

Painter refused to comment on the discrimination alleged by Collins, per company policy.

Though Family Dollar said employees who test positive for COVID-19 will receive up to two weeks paid time off, Collins was not able to get a test in March when he experienced symptoms due to more restrictive guidelines in light of testing supply constraints in Iowa.

A Facebook post from a Family Dollar customer, authenticated by The Messenger, confirmed that at least one other employee was forced by management to continue, business as usual, while displaying COVID-19 symptoms.

“If they’re doing this to other employees and making minimum wage workers work with possible COVID-19 symptoms, there’s greater concern for the community at large,” Vos said, telling The Messenger that his client at first only sought an investigation and reprimand. “If an employee tells you they’re not well at the height of a pandemic, perhaps err on the side of caution.”

Both Vos and Collins only ask one thing of Family Dollar and other employers being squeezed during a crisis: believe employees.