Yanick v. Kroger

From 2001 to May 2018, Mary Ellen Yanick (plaintiff) worked for Kroger Company of Michigan (Kroger) (defendant) as a bakery manager. On January 23, 2018, Yanick was diagnosed with breast cancer. On January 24, Yanick’s diagnosis was conveyed to the new store manager, Marli Schnepp. According to Yanick, Schnepp started regularly visiting the bakery to badger Yanick. Schnepp claimed such visits were routine store management. Schnepp also claimed she or the assistant manager often had to bake goods to keep the bakery on target. On February 7 and February 15, Schnepp met with Yanick, explaining that she was not meeting expectations and providing a list of daily duties, nonperformance of which would result in disciplinary action. At the February 15 meeting, Yanick told Schnepp that she was starting medical leave that day for breast-cancer surgery. Schnepp suggested Yanick step down as bakery manager, but Yanick declined. Yanick returned to work on June 11. On June 18, Schnepp informed Yanick her performance remained below par. Yanick admitted she was struggling and needed time to get back to normal. Schnepp again suggested that Yanick step down to a bakery-clerk position. Yanick declined. On June 22, Yanick met with Schnepp and two bakery employees, both of whom said the department needed better guidance and organization. On June 26, Yanick stepped down from her manager role, transferring to a different store to work as a bakery clerk with a lower salary. Yanick sued Kroger, asserting discrimination, failure-to-accommodate, and retaliation claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). She claimed she was forced into a demotion because of her cancer. Kroger moved for summary judgment, arguing that Yanick stepped down voluntarily and any encouragement to do so was attributable only to poor performance.