NEWS RELEASE<\/p>\n
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n
June 16, 2009<\/p>\n
CONTACTS:<\/p>\n
Larry Paradis<\/p>\n
Disability Rights Advocates<\/p>\n
510-541-4459<\/p>\n
510-665-8644<\/p>\n
Todd Schneider<\/p>\n
Schneider Wallace Cottrell Brayton Konecky, LLP<\/p>\n
415-421-7100<\/p>\n
DEAF AND HEARING IMPAIRED EMPLOYEES SETTLE<\/p>\n
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT WITH UPS<\/p>\n
Disability Rights Advocates, a non-profit legal center based in
\nBerkeley, California together with the civil rights firm Schneider
\nWallace Cottrell Brayton Konecky, LLP, have reached a proposed
\nsettlement in a long-running class action lawsuit with United Parcel
\nService, Inc., the world’s largest package delivery company. The suit
\nchallenged the company’s use of a Department of Transportation (“DOT”)
\nhearing standard as a threshold requirement for all driving positions
\nat the company. Plaintiffs alleged that UPS could not require
\napplicants for driving positions to pass the DOT standard when the job
\ninvolved driving a vehicle weighing less than 10,000 pounds. UPS
\nasserted that its use of the DOT standard was lawful due to the
\nsimilar operating characteristics of its vehicles weighing above and
\nbelow 10,000 pounds. Vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less are not
\nsubject to DOT regulations. Drivers of vehicles weighing more than
\n10,000 pounds are required by federal law to pass the DOT hearing
\nstandard.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed in 1999, was certified by a federal court as a
\nclass action in 2001. A trial in 2003 resulted in a court order
\nenjoining UPS from continued use of the DOT hearing standard. A
\nthree-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit upheld the injunction, but an
\nen banc panel of the Ninth Circuit reversed, sending the case back to
\nthe trial court for further litigation in December 2007.<\/p>\n
The proposed settlement creates a Hearing Protocol that will be made
\navailable to all UPS employees and applicants with hearing impairments
\nwho cannot pass the DOT hearing standard but are otherwise qualified
\nfor a driving position. UPS will administer the protocol in the same
\nmanner and with the same safeguards as the company administers its
\nprotocols for vision-impaired and insulin-dependent drivers.<\/p>\n
The Hearing Protocol provides otherwise qualified applicants for
\non-road driving positions who do not pass the DOT hearing standard
\nwith audiometric testing and an alternative hearing standard. Those
\nwho qualify under the Protocol will participate in UPS’s
\nindustry-leading driver training program in a vehicles weighing less
\nthan 10,000 pounds. UPS managers providing driver training as part of
\nthe Protocol will be specially trained to ensure effective
\ncommunication throughout the training process. Participants in the
\nHearing Protocol will also be regularly screened to monitor for
\nchanges in hearing loss.<\/p>\n
Larry Paradis, Executive Director of Disability Rights Advocates
\nexpressed satisfaction with the settlement. “This case raised
\ndifficult issues that both the parties and the courts, including the
\nNinth Circuit, grappled with over the years. In the end, we struck a
\nbalance and worked with UPS to develop a compromise that serves the
\nneeds of both UPS and the class. We look forward to the Protocol’s
\nimplementation.” Class attorney Todd Schneider echoed those
\nsentiments. “This first of its kind class action on behalf of deaf and
\nhearing impaired employees broke new ground and made new law. I’m
\npleased the settlement is going to give class members an opportunity
\nfor advancement at UPS that they would not have otherwise had.”<\/p>\n
“UPS remains committed to treating our employees with disabilities,
\nincluding those with hearing impairments, fairly, while maintaining
\nour unwavering commitment to public safety,” commented Gerry Eaker,
\nUPS Fleet Safety Manager. “The Hearing Protocol that is part of this
\nagreement allows us to achieve both goals simultaneously.”<\/p>\n
An expert panel composed of experts in the fields of audiology,
\notology and otolaryngology, UPS employees, and a retired jurist of the
\nCalifornia Supreme Court developed the parameters of the Hearing
\nProtocol.<\/p>\n
A Preliminary Approval hearing will be held before the Honorable
\nThelton E. Henderson on June 29, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. in San Francisco’s
\nfederal courthouse. The case is Bates et al., v. United Parcel
\nService, Inc., C 99-2216 (TEH).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 16, 2009 CONTACTS: Larry Paradis Disability Rights Advocates 510-541-4459 510-665-8644 Todd Schneider Schneider Wallace Cottrell Brayton Konecky, LLP 415-421-7100 DEAF AND HEARING IMPAIRED EMPLOYEES SETTLE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT WITH UPS Disability Rights Advocates, a…<\/p>\n