Court Discards
Discrimination Case Decision, Accepts New Standard
[Posted 01/02/2008]
A federal appellate court has
thrown out its earlier ruling in a discrimination
case against the United Parcel Service (UPS) and set
out a standard for how employers can defend
themselves against allegations of discrimination
against the disabled.
Sitting
as a group, the 15-member 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals changed its mind from its first ruling in
the case in October 2006 involving hearing-impaired
UPS drivers and whether the package delivery
company discriminated against them for positions as
package car drivers. In their new decision, the
court threw out an injunction barring certain tests
for the driver positions and sent the case back to
Senior US District Judge Thelton E. Henderson of
the US District Court for the Northern District of
California for additional hearings.
The
federal government requires drivers of large trucks
to pass a hearing test. UPS had used the same
federal standard in screening drivers for smaller
trucks, which the plaintiffs said is
discriminatory. The decision laid out a new defense
standard for employers hit with Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) claims.
“UPS is entitled to
use, as some evidence of its business necessity
defense, the fact that it relied on a government
safety standard,”
Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeon wrote for the
court,
“even where the
standard is not applicable to the category of
conduct at issue.”
Related Links:
9th Circuit Court Opinion
Earlier News Article from systoc.com
(10/14/05)
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