Disabled man fired over 20 cents

DES MOINES (AP) — An Iowa-based grocery store chain that fired a 43-year-old mentally disabled man over 20 cents in bottle deposit receipts is now offering to rehire him.

Kyle Dowie of Clive was fired from an Urbandale Hy-Vee store Nov. 2.

Dowie’s mother, Jeanann Johnson, said he found the receipts from September in a coat pocket and tried to redeem them with receipts from bottles and cans he turned in before work. She said he was confused about where the September receipts came from.

Dowie was questioned about the receipts and fired.

His attorney, Brooke Timmer, filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, saying Dowie’s firing violated state and federal laws.

Hy-Vee spokeswoman Ruth Comer declined to discuss specifics of the case but said Hy-Vee offered Dowie another job.

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