• 02
  • June
    2010

Advocates for California's hearing impaired filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court on May 21, alleging a history of disability discrimination and ignorance by employers at a number of state offices. These include the Department of Rehabilitation, Department of Justice, California Public Employees Retirement System, and the Department of Social Services.

The plaintiffs allege that both deaf and hard-of-hearing employees are often left without sign language interpreters for meetings and have even been left in office buildings during emergency evacuations because of a lack of proper accommodation for their disability.

In addition to a simple lack of accommodation for the hearing impaired, the plaintiffs claim that the process for requesting modification is spotty at best. Most of the time, requests seem to go nowhere, culminating in a distinct lack of action on the side of employers.

Seven plaintiffs are named in the lawsuit and lawyers for the group are seeking class action status. In the entire state of California, there are roughly 1,500 workers who are either deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, employers are prevented from discriminating against disabled employees. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit believe that the failure, and sometimes flat denial, to provide adequate communication accommodations violates these national laws.

In the end, they are looking for a better system overseeing accommodations for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. The lack of sign language communicators and other necessary services likely stems from a simple inefficiency in the current system that regulates such provisions.

Malicious or no, this deficiency presents a major problem for state employees and, the plaintiffs believe, must be addressed immediately.

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