On August 8th, 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that a Westwood, Massachusetts-based staffing support firm will pay $1.25 million to settle a disability-related discrimination case. Notably, the company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it did not place blind and low-vision job applicants. Employers and staffing agencies, however, must not discriminate against federally protected classes. These classes include race, sex, age, disability, genetic information, and pregnancy status. Comparatively, the EEOC has ramped up its enforcement efforts in recent years. In November 2023, the agency released its Fiscal Year 2023 Agency Financial Report, announcing that systemic discrimination charges had doubled.
Background of the Disability-Related Discrimination Case
According to the lawsuit, the EEOC claimed that the staffing company sought to fill telephone-based customer service agents. However, it learned that the affected applicants used accessibility technologies (such as screen readers) to convert computer text to speech. Consequently, the staffing firm assumed that its client employers could not support accommodating such technology at that time. Additionally, the lawsuit alleged that the staffing support firm denied disability-related accommodations during their pre-employment application process. Markedly, the EEOC believed these practices were unnecessary and exclusionary barriers to employment opportunities.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Signed into law in 1990, the ADA is a federal law that protects the civil rights of individuals with disabilities. The ADA forbids disability-related discrimination in the workplace and other sectors of society. Covered individuals may show they have a disability in one of three ways:
- they have a physical or mental condition that substantially limits a major life activity (walking, talking, seeing, learning, etc.)
- a person has a history of disability (for example, a cancer that is in remission)
- this person is subject to an adverse employment action, and their impairment is not transitory or minor
Qualified employees or candidates with disabilities under the ADA must have an impairment that is:
- not transitory (lasting or expected to last six months or less) or
- minor (even if he or she does not have such an impairment).
Penalties in the Disability-Related Discrimination Case
As a result of the lawsuit, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas approved a three-year consent decree. Explicitly, under the ruling, the staffing firm must provide internal training about rights and responsibilities under the ADA. The company will also revise its policies and practices concerning reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, including blindness. In addition to the $1.25 million fine, the company must appoint both an internal ADA coordinator and an external monitor. In brief, these new positions will ensure the staffing firm complies with the judgment. In particular, this compliance will prevent future limitations on persons requiring accommodations such as screen reader technology.
Employer Takeaways
In conclusion, according to the EEOC, the agency received 81,055 discrimination charges in Fiscal Year 2023. Of those total charges, nearly 36% involved disability-related discrimination. Since employees may request reasonable accommodations involving particular disabilities, workplaces must consider those requests carefully. To help business owners and their managers comply with state and federal reasonable accommodation laws, WorkWise Compliance (formerly Personnel Concepts) created the Reasonable Accommodations E-Learning Program for Employers and Managers. This online eLearning module includes self-guided training on correctly handling disability accommodation requests, links to digital resources, and a standalone interactive assessment tool that employers can use whenever they receive a qualifying request.