UPS to allow hard-of-hearing drivers

UPS has settled a 10-year-old lawsuit by agreeing to allow some deaf and hard-of-hearing employees to compete for jobs driving small delivery vans after special testing and training.

UPS has settled a 10-year-old lawsuit by agreeing to allow some deaf and hard-of-hearing employees to compete for jobs driving small delivery vans after special testing and training.

The settlement, which awaits approval by a federal judge in San Francisco, would apply to about 1,000 workers and 1,250 vehicles at UPS, said attorney Laurence Paradis, executive director of Disability Rights Advocates in Berkeley.

The dispute involves trucks weighing 10,000 pounds or less, a small percentage of UPS’ fleet of nearly 100,000 vehicles. U.S. Department of Transportation regulations require drivers of trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds to pass hearing tests, but the company has applied the same standards to its smaller vehicles.

UPS argued that deaf drivers were more likely to get into accidents because they couldn’t hear sirens, screeching tires or other danger signals.

Plaintiffs in the nationwide suit said they were unfairly confined to low-level jobs as loaders and sorters despite records that showed they were safe drivers.

After a two-month trial, U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson ruled in 2004 that the company was discriminating illegally against deaf people with good driving records. But a federal appeals court ruled in December 2007 that he had used the wrong standard and ordered him to reconsider.

Negotiations since that ruling led to the settlement, Paradis said.

The agreement requires the company to use a more lenient hearing standard, established by an expert panel, for qualified employees. Paradis said those who are completely deaf won’t meet the standard, but many who consider themselves deaf or substantially impaired will pass the test and qualify for training, which would probably include sign-language interpreters and other communication aids.

After a year, the two sides would assess the results and negotiate changes or a permanent extension, referring any disputes to an arbitrator. The company agreed to pay $35,000 to each of seven employees who filed the suit, and $5.25m to their lawyers.

Other employees who believe they were wrongly barred from drivers’ jobs, dating back to mid-1997, can file individual damage claims with federal and state civil rights agencies, Paradis said.

“This first-of-its-kind class action on behalf of deaf and hearing-impaired employees broke new ground and made new law,” said Todd Schneider, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

UPS’ fleet safety manager, Gerry Eaker, said the company “remains committed to treating our employees with disabilities, including those with hearing impairments, fairly, while maintaining our unwavering commitment to public safety.”