Shifting deadlines, a withdrawn request, then a mailed termination notice he says blindsided him
A disabled Army veteran says CarMax fired him while his leave paperwork was still moving through the company's own system.
That is the heart of a lawsuit Kyle Roman filed on June 5, 2026, in federal court in Richmond, Virginia. For HR teams, it reads less like courtroom drama than a cautionary tale about an interactive process that came apart at the seams.
Roman started at CarMax in September 2005 and worked his way up to Buyer at the company's West Broad Street location in Richmond. He is, according to his complaint, a disabled Army veteran living with ulcerative colitis and related conditions. After surgery around 2013 to remove his large intestine, he says he needed timely restroom access and flexibility to manage flare-ups.
The filing says Roman first asked for an accommodation plan around November 2020. He alleges his supervisors said they would loop in HR but never did, and that one manager repeatedly told him he "did not need an accommodation plan." His condition worsened, and he went on approved medical leave in March 2021.
Then came the paperwork. CarMax had approved extended leave through October 28, 2023. Roman says he submitted his medical certification on October 6, ahead of the deadline - but his doctor left off the leave start and end dates.
What happened next is the part HR readers will study. Roman alleges that on November 2, 2023, an accommodations administrator emailed to say he had been on "unapproved leave since 10/28/2023" and gave him "5 calendar days" to act. He says he asked for more time because his physician needed until after November 6 to fix the form. According to the filing, no response came. Instead, he alleges, on November 6 the administrator wrote that the deadline was "today" and warned that otherwise "you will be referred to regional HR."
Roman says he kept the company posted, telling it on November 15 that the documents were with his doctor and would "take up to a week or two," with a screenshot attached. He says he heard nothing.
On November 21, the complaint says, CarMax withdrew his accommodation request, with the administrator writing that it was being "'withdrawn'" because "No medical documentation was provided." A benefits-termination notice followed on November 30, Roman alleges - but he says he did not learn he had lost his job until a mailed notice arrived around December 12.
When he emailed to ask why, the administrator replied on December 22, according to the filing, that "The termination was processed prior to documentation being received," that the later paperwork was "insufficient in supporting ongoing leave," and that "the termination cannot be overturned."
Roman's case leans hard on timing. He says he submitted an ADA accommodation request as protected activity, then was fired "within less than one month of that request." The complaint calls the company's documentation rationale "pretextual," noting that he had filed paperwork before his leave lapsed, flagged his doctor's omission, asked for an extension, and later sent in the completed form.
He pleads seven counts: disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act; interference and retaliation under the Family and Medical Leave Act; disability discrimination under the Virginia Human Rights Act; and wrongful termination in violation of Virginia public policy. He first cleared the administrative steps, filing an EEOC charge and receiving a Right to Sue notice he says he got on March 7, 2026.
The complaint also references earlier allegations of racial discrimination, including a 2020 report Roman says he made to a company HR hotline that drew no follow-up, and a 2021 EEOC charge. Those sit as background; the seven counts center on disability, leave, and retaliation.
For HR leaders, the takeaway lands at the handoffs. The complaint describes requests that allegedly went unanswered, deadlines that tightened by the day, an accommodation withdrawn while the employee says he was still in active contact, and - per the filing - a termination decided before the medical records were read. It also alleges Roman got no warning his job was on the line.
The allegations have not been tested in court. CarMax has not yet filed a response, and no court has ruled on the claims.
