PITTSBURGH (AP) — The former manager of a Mount Lebanon Panera Bread location has settled a federal lawsuit claiming he was fired for repeatedly having a black man work as a cashier instead of a less visible location.
A federal judge in Pittsburgh approved a joint motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed Wednesday by 49-year-old Scott Donatelli and Covelli Entreprises, the Warren, Ohio, franchisee of the upscale store where Donatelli was fired in September. Donatelli's attorney declined comment and a Covelli spokesman didn't immediately respond.
Donatelli claimed he was denied extra medical leave and fired after double hip-replacement surgery, but alleged the real reason was that he bucked Covelli's allegedly race-related personnel rules, which are the subject of two separate employee lawsuits still pending.
The settlement doesn't specify terms. A Covelli spokesman previously denied discrimination and said Donatelli was fired "strictly" for not returning to work soon enough.