DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa-based grocery store chain that fired a 43-year-old mentally disabled man over 20 cents in bottle deposit receipts has offered him another job.

Kyle Dowie had worked at an Urbandale Hy-Vee store for 25 years when he was fired Nov. 2.

His firing, first reported by The Des Moines Register, led to a complaint being filed with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission claiming Hy-Vee violated Iowa civil rights law and the federal American With Disabilities Act. The company has not discussed specifics of the case, citing privacy issues, but said it has offered Dowie a job at its corporate offices and was waiting to hear back from him and his family.

Dowie's job duties included, among other things, bringing in shopping carts from the parking lot and collecting bottles and cans that were returned for deposits.

Dowie had taken in his own bottles and cans that morning before work and received two receipts totaling $3.75, said his mother, Jeanann Johnson.

He also found two receipts from September, totaling 20 cents, in his coat pocket, Johnson said.

She said her son was confused about where the tickets came from but turned them in to be redeemed for cash along with the two tickets he received for the cans and bottles he returned that morning.

A person Johnson described as an operations manager questioned her son about the September receipts and the discrepancy in the dates. Dowie was called into the store office later that day and fired, his mother said.

"I guess they were contending they weren't his and considered it theft," Johnson said.

Ruth Comer, a Hy-Vee spokeswoman, said the case was a personnel matter and she couldn't discuss the specifics.

"There is another side of the story that can't be reported because it involves employee privacy," Comer said.

She said Hy-Vee, which has more than 230 stores in eight states, offered to "rehire Kyle at the same wages and benefits" at the company's corporate office in West Des Moines.

"We're still discussing that with Kyle and his mother," Comer said. "We've had a couple of conversations with them and offered for them to take a tour and look at the work place and make sure it's something they're both comfortable with."

She said details of the job were still being worked out.

Comer gave The Associated Press a list of 19 organizations and agencies Hy-Vee works with in employing people with disabilities and a list of six awards the company has received for its work with disabled individuals.

"There's an implication we don't work with people with disabilities," Comer said. "We probably hire more people with disabilities than anybody in the state."

Brooke Timmer, Dowie's attorney, filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission on Tuesday — the same day Hy-Vee extended its offer to rehire Dowie — claiming his firing violated state and federal laws.

"I think it's a matter of fact that Hy-Vee had knowledge of his disability and had a situation arise where they basically found a reason to fire him although they knew his ability to comprehend things is different," Timmer said.

She described Dowie as a loyal, longtime employee who deserved to be treated better.

Timmer acknowledged Dowie had been "written up" for similar issues before, in 1998, 2001 and 2003, but said he didn't know if the receipts in question came from an earlier visit of his own or if they were someone else's that were left behind.

"We certainly are willing to talk to Hy-Vee and reach a resolution at this stage, and if not we will pursue his civil rights claims," Timmer said.

A hearing for unemployment benefits was held last week, and Dowie is waiting to hear whether he can collect jobless benefits while he looks for work, Johnson said. She also said her son is waiting to hear more about Hy-Vee's job offer before making any decisions.

He was "very disturbed" by the firing, Johnson said.

"It was his first job," she said. "He loved it. It's all he had ever known."