HR Tip: EEOC issues guidance for workers with hearing disabilities

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently issued an updated document explaining how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to job applicants and employees with hearing disabilities. In a series of questions and answers, the document addresses pre- and post-offer inquiries, technologies that may enable free or low-cost reasonable accommodation, safety concerns, and new and updated scenarios of potential discrimination that address technologies such as videoconferencing software. For example, an employer that uses videoconferencing may need to provide a service that translates voice into text at real-time speeds as an ADA accommodation.

Recently, the EEOC agreed to a $44,250 settlement with a Colorado manufacturer related to the firing of a deaf employee and a $180,000 settlement with a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based healthcare provider, when the agency allegedly failed to hire an applicant who is deaf.