Listen to this articleAT A GLANCE
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Champion Media LLC for discriminating against a deaf job applicant.
- The lawsuit alleges that Champion Media denied the applicant employment and refused to provide a sign language interpreter for an in-person interview.
- The EEOC filed the lawsuit after attempts to reach a settlement through its administrative dispute resolution process failed.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Champion Media LLC, a North Carolina-based publisher, after a deaf applicant was denied a job because of her disability and denied reasonable accommodations for an interview, the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff met the qualifications and applied for a job at Champion’s printing facility in Lumberton.
After an initial telephone interview using a video relay service, the applicant was selected for an in-person interview. The applicant requested that Champion provide a sign language interpreter to assist with the interview.
Instead of providing an interpreter, Champion Media canceled the interview and did not hire the applicant, the EEOC complaint states.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, companies are prohibited from refusing to hire applicants with disabilities and are required to provide reasonable accommodations unless doing so would create an undue hardship.
The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina after initially attempting to reach an out-of-court settlement through its administrative mediation process.
“Federal law is clear that discrimination based on disability is illegal,” said Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District Office. “The EEOC is here to ensure that workplace discrimination laws are strictly enforced.”
Attempts to reach Champion for comment Friday afternoon via email on the company’s website or by phone at the number listed there were unsuccessful.
