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EEOC Files Discriminatory Failure To Hire Case Alleging Employer Refused To Hire Deaf Job Applicant

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Having dedicated their practice to fighting for the rights of employees, our Marion County, Florida employment discrimination lawyers know that employers continue to discriminate against disabled employees and job applicants. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is an unlawful employment practice for employers to discriminate against employees and job applicants on the basis of disability.

The ADA also requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to individuals with a disability. The purpose of the ADA’s reasonable accommodation requirement is to enable individuals with a disability to continue their employment or to commence their employment by providing them with a reasonable accommodation that will permit them to perform the essential functions of the position held or desired.Courts have determined that a reasonable accommodation includes job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, and modification of equipment or devices. Under the ADA, employers unlawfully discriminate against individuals with a disability when they fail to offer a reasonable accommodation.

EEOC Files Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

In a press release issued on June 24, 2019, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that has filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against M & M Limousine Services (M & M). On June 24, 2019, the EEOC filed the case, United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. M & M Limousine Services, Case No. 1:19-cv-04213, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois after initially attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its statutorily mandated conciliation process. 

The EEOC brought the disability discrimination lawsuit pursuant to the ADA on behalf of Sabri Alafti (Alafti). The EEOC claims that M & M violated the ADA when it failed to hire, Alafti, a qualified individual with a disability, because of his disability. The EEOC further claims that M & M violated the ADA when it failed to consider whether Alafti could perform the essential functions of the position he sought with or without a reasonable accommodation. In this article, our Marion County, Florida employment discrimination lawyers explain the EEOC’s allegations against M & M.

Applicant Claims Discriminatory Failure To Hire

M & M is a limousine service company based in Des Plaines, Illinois. On June 12, 2017, Alafti applied for the position of limousine driver with M & M. Alafti has a physical impairment, deafness, that substantially limits him in the major life activities of hearing and speaking. During the application process, M & M learned that Alafti is deaf during a video relay call that Alafti placed to M & M to apply for the position. After learning that Alafti is deaf, M & M refused to hire Alafti for the limousine driver position. In fact, the EEOC claims that M & M told Alafti that it could not hire him because he is deaf. In refusing to hire Alafti because he is deaf, the EEOC maintains, M & M violated the ADA. The EEOC further claims that M & M violated the ADA because it refused to consider whether Alafti could perform the essential functions of the position of limousine driver with or without a reasonable accommodation.

Refusal To Hire Disabled Job Applicants Is Unlawful

The EEOC is the administrative agency of the United States responsible for interpreting and enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including disability discrimination. In enforcing the federal anti-discrimination laws, the EEOC is also authorized by federal law to bring lawsuits on behalf of employees and job applicants who have been discriminated against on the basis of disability. In a press release issued by the EEOC on June 24, 2019 regarding the case, the Director of the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, Julianne Bowman, stated that the “ADA was enacted to combat this type of unsubstantiated assumption which M & M made that a person with a disability is incapable of working.” In commenting on the case, a regional attorney for the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, Greg Gochanour, explained that “it is regrettable that M & M refused to hire the applicant based on unfounded assumptions that a deaf person cannot do the job rather than engaging in an individualized assessment of whether he could do the job with or without a reasonable accommodation, as required by the ADA.”

Consultation With Ocala Discrimination Attorneys

Based in Ocala, Florida and representing employees throughout Central Florida, our Marion County, Florida employment discrimination lawyers have represented employment discrimination victims in hundreds of cases before the EEOC. If you have experienced discrimination in the workplace or have questions about your protection from a discriminatory failure to hire, please contact our office for a free consultation with our Marion County, Florida employment discrimination lawyers. Our employee rights law firm takes employment discrimination cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that there are no attorney’s fees incurred unless there is a recovery and our attorney’s fees come solely from the monetary award that you recover.

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