The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently sued Toys “R” Us, Inc. for allegedly failing to provide an interpreter to a deaf applicant during an interview.

The EEOC claims that the applicant, who communicates through American Sign Language, reading lips and the written word, applied for a team member position at a Maryland store. The applicant was contacted for a group interview, and her mother advised the company that her daughter was deaf and needed an interpreter.

According to the EEOC charge, the company told the mother that if the applicant wanted to attend the interview she would have to provide her own interpreter. The mother ended up attending the interview with her daughter and acting as her interpreter, but the daughter was not hired for the position.

The EEOC alleges that the failure to provide an interpreter violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with disabilities unless it would cause an undue hardship.

“Federal law requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation during the interview process, including providing an American Sign Language interpreter, unless the employer can show it would be a significant difficulty or expense to do so,” said EEOC District Director Spencer Lewis, Jr., in a statement. “Given the size and resources of Toys “R” Us, it is difficult to understand how it would have been an undue hardship for such a large retailer to provide an interpreter when asked to so."

“It’s not only bad business to forgo hiring a qualified employee simply because of fears, biases or stereotypes against people with disabilities, it’s also a violation of the law,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence.

Author: Gail Cecchettini Whaley

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