To Interview or Not to Interview — The $1.675 Million Question

It is common knowledge that discrimination has no place in today’s workplace. And most employers know by now that there are questions that shouldn’t be asked in an interview. But does the law protect a deaf applicant before the interview even commences? Yes. In fact, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently secured a jury verdict of $1,675,000 against a major distribution company for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act based on its refusal to interview a qualified deaf applicant.

For context, a candidate who was deaf applied for two entry-level positions for which she was fully qualified. The company’s human resources department contacted her and left a voicemail shortly after she had submitted her application. When the applicant returned the call she utilized Telecommunications Relay Service, which is a phone service that enables those who have difficulty hearing or speaking to make calls to standard voice telephone users through the assistance of operators who facilitate such calls. Once the company received the call via TRS, they not only failed to return the applicant’s call, they rejected her application in record time and subsequently filled the role with non-deaf applicants.