Court forces US drinks distributor to hire sight-impaired applicant

Colorado-based Beverage Distributors Company (BDC) has been ordered to hire a visually impaired jobseeker it turned down because of his eyesight, on top of paying him $200k (£123k).
Tue, 17 Dec 2013Colorado-based Beverage Distributors Company (BDC) has been ordered to hire a visually impaired jobseeker it turned down because of his eyesight, on top of paying him $200k (£123k).

The move comes after a lawsuit brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in the federal court in Denver.

The case concerned legally blind Mike Sungaila, who had worked for BDC for four years as a driver’s helper, before the company decided to eliminate his position and use contract labour instead.

Sungaila applied for a position as a night warehouse loader, which BDC offered him on condition of passing a medical. He failed the medical, but the EEOC contended that he could have safely carried out the job.

The court found that “the testimony of Beverage Distributors managers and human resources professionals demonstrated a lack of sufficient knowledge about the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act], its interactive process, and the requirement that reasonable accommodations be provided to employees”.

Click for news of a previous EEOC lawsuit against an employer violating the ADA.

  • See last week’s December edition of Recruiter for our Global Spotlight on the US market. It includes the comment from recruitment process outsourcing firm WilsonHCG’s founder and boss John Wilson that a proliferation of “regulation on the diversity and fairness of recruitment” is a major issue that those entering the market must become familiar with.

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