ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Tech Mahindra (Americas) Inc., a large technology company, violated federal law by abruptly ending its interview with a qualified applicant for an engineering role and failing to hire the applicant because he was deaf, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, in November 2022, Robert Rademacher interviewed for a job as an automation engineer with Tech Mahindra. Upon realizing Rademacher was deaf and using a sign-language interpreter, Tech Mahindra abruptly stopped the interview and told him he was not going to get the job. Tech Mahindra followed up with an email telling him, “While you have the perfect skill set for this role it would be a challenge having an inter[preter] on-site.” Rademacher explained that an onsite interpreter was not necessary, as there was technology that could allow for virtual interpretation. Tech Mahindra still refused to hire him.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified applicants based on their disability. The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York (EEOC v. Tech Mahindra (Americas) Inc., Civil Action No. 6:23-cv-06397) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC seeks back pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages for the applicant, as well as...

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