Inclusion Daily Express -- Appeals Court Agrees FedEx Discriminated Against Deaf Worker

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Appeals Court Agrees FedEx Discriminated Against Deaf Worker
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 24, 2008

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND--An appeals court has ruled in favor of a former employee of Federal Express Corporation, who claimed that the company first discriminated against him, then retaliated against him after he complained.

Ron Lockhart, who is deaf and cannot speak or read lips, was a package handler at the FedEx facility at Baltimore-Washington International Airport from 2000 to 2003.

According to court papers, Lockhart filed a formal discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in October 2001, alleging that FedEx had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by repeatedly denying him a sign language interpreter, closed captioning, and other accommodations during important meetings and trainings.

The need to accommodate Lockhart's disability became crucial after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax poisoning threat that followed. During several meetings on security issues, Lockhart was denied a sign language interpreter and access to meeting notes. Because of this, Lockhart and others grew concerned for his own safety, he claimed.

"[M]y co-workers started to feel very concerned for me because there was so much information that I wasn't getting, and they were concerned for my safety," he later testified.

In July 2002, the EEOC sided with Lockhart and ordered FedEx to provide him with the accommodations he needed to do his job. Six months later, FedEx fired Lockhart, who then went back to the EEOC claiming the firing had been in retaliation for his original claim.

In March 2006, a jury found FedEx had violated Lockhart's rights, and ordered the company to pay him $100,000 in punitive damages and $8,000 in compensatory damages. FedEx appealed that decision, arguing that the punitive damages were excessive and that the company's managers had acted in good faith to comply with the ADA.

On Wednesday, a three-member panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld that ruling, saying FedEx "had acted reprehensibly" when it came to Lockhart's workplace accommodations.

FedEx issued a statement saying it was looking at its options before deciding whether to appeal this decision.

Related decision:
EEOC v. Federal Express Corporation (United States Court Of Appeals For The Fourth Circuit)
http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/061724.P.pdf

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