The national cosmetic store chain Ulta has settled a lawsuit with the widower of a 29-year-old woman who died by suicide after a lengthy battle with her employer over her service dog and other work accommodations.
Allan Zimney sued Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. in May 2024, claiming the company violated the rights of his late wife, Lanie Zimney.
Lanie Zimney worked as a hairstylist at the Ulta salon in St. Cloud for about five months in early 2019. When she disclosed she was pregnant, she was allegedly abruptly escorted from the store and told she couldn’t work until she provided paperwork on the accommodations she required because of her disability, according to the lawsuit.
When she applied for the job, Zimney had disclosed her chronic physical and mental conditions, including bipolar disorder, conversion disorder, hip dysplasia and fibromyalgia — conditions for which she said she could provide medical documentation. But no one required it, the lawsuit stated.
Her accommodations included access to a water bottle and chair at her work station, as well as her service dog, Bingo, who was trained to remind Zimney to take her medications, retrieve medicine or water and respond to seizures.
In May 2019, when Zimney told management she was pregnant, “Ulta withdrew its accommodations, barred Ms. Zimney from the workplace, and demanded Ms. Zimney run through a paperwork gauntlet,” the lawsuit stated. She briefly returned to work but management greatly reduced her shifts, the suit said.
Allan Zimney previously told the Star Tribune his wife felt dehumanized and suffered from depression. She died by suicide on Oct. 8, 2020, at their home in Ogilvie, Minn.
In April 2023, the director of the local Equal Employment Opportunity Commission office found “reasonable cause to believe that [Ulta] discriminated and retaliated against [Zimney] based on disability and sex (pregnancy) by suspending her, denying her reasonable accommodation and demoting her.”
