In the ideal Florida workplace, employers would take the time to accommodate workers who have disabilities or other reasons to need special adjustments. In fact, there are laws and regulations in place that should ensure that this ideal workplace exists for disabled individuals. Unfortunately, many workers may end up losing pay or their jobs in entirely due to workplace discrimination and lack of accommodations from employers.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is currently looking to pursue a lawsuit against shipping company FedEx. Their reasoning behind the suit is that the company apparently failed to provide needed equipment for deaf employees. FedEx has hired numerous hearing-impaired workers, but those workers were not given interpreters or closed-captioned training videos in order for the employees to better understand their workplace.
Individuals with hearing impairments working in the packaging sector were also not provided with needed equipment that emitted vibrations instead of beeps. As a result, certain employees could potentially be more at risk of safety issues, and they may also have missed out on pay due to the inability to complete tasks as needed. The EEOC is hoping that FedEx will no longer discriminate against hearing-impaired employees and pay workers who may have been subjected to wage loss due to the lack of accommodations for their disabilities.
When an individual has a disability, finding a job that they are able to perform may be difficult in itself. If they are able to find a job but face workplace discrimination on the job, they may not be able to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. As a result, they could potentially be penalized. Florida workers who believe that have faced unfair treatment in the workplace due to a disability or other cause may wish to determine whether legal action could be right for their situation.
Source: triblive.com, "Federal lawsuit claims FedEx discriminated against hearing impaired employees", Brian Bowling, Oct. 10, 2014