Cleaning contractor settles federal lawsuit for failing to provide reasonable accommodations for hearing-impaired employee
HONOLULU – Nonprofit organizations Opportunities and Resources, Inc. and ORI Anuenue Hale, Inc., contractors for federal contracts providing cleaning services at military installations throughout Hawaii, will pay $325,000 and provide other relief to settle a disability lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the commission announced today.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, ORI received multiple requests from deaf employees for reasonable accommodations (such as American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters) during meetings, including important safety meetings to discuss chemical hazards and other safety precautions, beginning as early as 2015. ORI did not provide sign language interpreters, did not participate in the dialogue process, and employed ineffective accommodations such as passing notes.
The EEOC alleges that ORI was aware of the employee’s disability but failed to accommodate the hearing-impaired employee in accordance with policies and practices established by the organization’s leadership.
Such actions violate the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) amendments, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability through the denial of reasonable accommodation or the denial of the privileges and benefits of employment. After attempting a pre-litigation settlement through a voluntary mediation process, the EEOC filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii (Case No. 1:21-cv-00286-JMS-RT).
In addition to monetary relief, ORI agreed to new and stronger compliance measures, including providing sign language interpreters for various workplace meetings to effectively accommodate employees who are deaf or hard of hearing. ORI also agreed to hire an external EEO monitor, appoint an internal ADA coordinator, and implement effective ADA policies and procedures to ensure that reasonable accommodation requests are handled appropriately. The EEO monitor will oversee disability discrimination investigations and implement and oversee ADA compliance, including Deaf culture training. The case will remain under the jurisdiction of the Court for five years.
“The EEOC commends these courageous employees for choosing to come forward and report discrimination and assert their rights,” said Anna Park, EEOC’s regional attorney for the Los Angeles District, which includes Hawaii. “The ADA clearly provides that workers with disabilities are entitled to the same privileges and benefits of employment as all other workers. The EEOC stands ready to enforce the ADA, and we reiterate that all employers must comply with their obligation to provide reasonable and effective accommodations to employees.”
“It is troubling when companies who hire people with disabilities resist providing reasonable accommodations to these workers,” said EEOC Honolulu Office Director Raymond Griffin Jr. “The EEOC prioritizes protecting vulnerable and underserved workers, and we hope employers will take notice of this solution. In addition to providing financial compensation to people with disabilities, the Agency is taking steps, including deaf cultural training, to improve the work environment for deaf applicants and employees.”
Protecting vulnerable and underserved workers from employment discrimination is an EEOC priority under its Strategic Enforcement Plan for Fiscal Years 2024-2028 (https://www.eeoc.gov/strategic-enforcement-plan-fiscal-years-2024-2028). To learn more about disability discrimination, visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination or watch the ASL video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGVmImhj5KI.
The Los Angeles area includes central and southern California, southern Nevada, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Wake Island and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, with offices in Los Angeles, Fresno, Las Vegas, San Diego and Honolulu.
The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and provides equal opportunity for all. For more information, visit www.eeoc.gov.