EEOC files claims against FedEx, Wal-Mart for alleged disability discrimination

filed against FedEx Ground in North Carolina, as well as a Wal-Mart in Maryland, for alleged violations to the ADA. In the case of FedEx Ground, the EEOC claims that reasonable accommodations were not made for employees that are deaf or hard-of-hearing, as employees were not provided with a sign-language interpreter or closed captions during training materials and videos. The EEOC also claims that alternative safety equipment — that which uses flashing lights or vibrations instead of beeps or other sounds — was not provided to these employees. A FedEx spokesperson denied these allegations, which were made after a mandatory EEOC tour of the package-sorting facility. “FedEx Ground is committed to fair and equal treatment of all employees and believes the claims made by the EEOC are misleading and not founded in law,” the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart provided a vague defense for its actions when it withdrew a job offer for a sales associate that could not submit to a urine drug test due to late-stage renal cancer. The prospective employee offered to submit to a different type of drug test, such as a blood test, and was told that Wal-Mart’s corporate office would not agree to a different test. The job offer was withdrawn when urine test results were not available within 24 hours of the job offer. The EEOC filed suit against the store, and Wal-Mart agreed to pay the applicant $72,500, as well as train that store’s managers on accommodating applicants with disabilities. Similar suits have also been filed against a Maryland Kmart and a Texas rehabilitation center for not making reasonable drug-testing accommodations for those with renal cancer.]]>