On January 24, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released updated guidance on how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to job applicants and employees with hearing disabilities. The Q&A resource comes on the heels of the EEOC’s announcement of two settlements—one for $44,250 and the other for $180,000—with two employers accused of adverse employment actions against deaf individuals in violation of the ADA. Although the EEOC guidance does not contain new legal mandates, it is an important reminder to educational employers of how the agency will apply existing legal standards in cases involving individuals with hearing disabilities. Employers should review the guidance and their policies, procedures, and practices to mitigate the risk of challenges of employment discrimination by applicants and employees with hearing disabilities. The following is a summary of the major points from the guidance that employers should know.
When a Hearing Condition is a Disability
The guidance opens with a reminder of the broad definition of “disability” and the likelihood that an individual with a hearing condition will qualify as an individual with a disability under the ADA. The section includes a helpful summary of hearing conditions that may meet the ADA’s definition of disability. Examples of hearing conditions that could be disabilities under the ADA include deafness, being hard of hearing, experiencing ringing in the ears, and having sensitivity to noise....
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently revised the Justice Manual to reinstate previous agency policy on how it will enforce False Claims Act (FCA) cases moving forward, and when it will see...