URBANDALE, Iowa, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- An Iowa grocery store says it has offered to re-hire a mentally disabled man who was fired for cashing in 20 cents in bottle deposits that weren't his.
Kyle Dowie, 43, filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission alleging he was discriminated against because of his disability when he was fired in November from his job at a Hy-Vee supermarket in Urbandale, Iowa, where he had worked for 25 years.
His mother said Dowie had recycled $3.75 worth of bottles from home in the store's recycling machine. He then tried to redeem 20 cents in bottle deposit credit slips that may have been left by customers, ABC News reported Friday.
"I am mentally retarded, but Hy-Vee did not take that into account when ending my employment over 20 cents," Dowie said in the civil rights filing.
Ruth Comer, a spokesman for Hy-Vee said the company, which has 235 stores in eight Midwestern states, has offered to reinstate Dowie with the same pay and benefits. Dowie's attorney Brooke Timmer said she is waiting to see the full terms of the offer, particularly what position Dowie is being offered.
Comer said the company has a long history of employing people with disabilities, ABC News reported.
"We are proud of our tradition of having an inclusive workplace in which people of all ability levels can succeed," she was quoted as saying.
