Lawyer: New Hy-Vee Job Must Be Right for Disabled Man

Kyle Dowie has not decided whether he will take the job Hy-Vee is offering him, his lawyer said Thursdays afternoon.

Brooke Timmer, who is representing Dowie, confirmed that Hy-Vee has offered to rehire the mentally disabled worker, although not the same job he's had for 25 years.

Dowie, 43, took care of the bottle and can redemption machines and carts at the until he was fired for cashing in 20 cents in unclaimed pop bottle deposit tickets along with his family's cans and bottles.

Des Moines Register columnist Rekha Basu wrote about his civil rights complaint on Jan. 20. Care2, an international website for social activists, started an online petition demanding that Dowie be rehired and collected over 19,000 signatures in less than a week.

His story was posted on ABC News' website and Aol.com. this week.

In Urbandale Patch's poll, 317 people had voted as of 6 p.m. Thursday, with 65 percent opposing his firing; 23 percent saying Hy-Vee had the right to fire him and 11 percent needing more information to make a decision.

Some readers posted comments saying they won't shop at Hy-Vee until Dowie is rehired.

"I live nearby and definitely will NOT be shopping at that store anymore unless Dowie is rehired. Sorry, HyVee, I've been grocery shopping at your store since 1990 but you've just lost a customer to Fareway," posted Jenny on Jan. 22.

Timmer said they plan to meet with Hy-Vee about the job offer. "We are cautiously optimistic," she said. "We do want to talk to Hy-Vee and get further information about what the job entails. Because of the nature of his disability, he deals well with repetition."

Timmer added "We do strongly disagree with Hy-Vee's contention that they had the right to fire Kyle. We still fervently believe that his termination was in violation of the Iowa Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act."

Hy-Vee, in a message to employees this week, said that while the company was within its rights to fire Dowie for "violating company policies…his departure has led many individuals to mischaracterize our company."

Timmer said the family feels "very supported by the response that everyone's received."

"If you meet Kyle, he's just a really, really great guy who loved his job. People who knew him and go to that store have nothing to say but the sweetest of things," she said.

Timmer said she did not know if the family has received a ruling on Dowie's claim for unemployment, which Hy-Vee had opposed at a hearing earlier this month.