DECLINED POSITION TO DEAF APPLICANT BECAUSE INTERPRETER WAS NEEDED
A New York technology company has agreed to pay $255,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Apparently, Tech Mahindra, Inc., was alleged to have denied a position to an automation engineer who required the assistance of a sign language interpreter. (The company, in an email, noted that the applicant had the “perfect skill set,” but was rejected because of the “challenge having an interrupter [sic] on-site.”)
Since such conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York (EEOC v. Tech Mahindra (Americas), seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief.
In addition to the monetary payment to the impacted individual, the company agreed to modify its employment related polices and practices relating to “all aspects of the ADA,” and will hire an ADA coordinator to review “reasonable accommodation” requests.
In a written statement, EEOC Regional Attorney Jeffrey Burstein noted that “This case strongly affirms the EEOC’s commitment to enforcing the ADA in all aspects of employment, particularly at the hiring stage.”
The technically wasn’t good.
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