Excerpt from: Disability Law (click for full article)
Toys "R" Us, Inc., one of the world's largest retailers of toys and
juvenile products, violated federal law when it first refused to
provide an interpreter for a deaf applicant and then failed to hire
her, the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a
lawsuit it announced today.
The EEOC charged that Shakirra Thomas, who is deaf, applied for a team
member position at the retailer's Columbia, Md., store in October 2011.
Thomas communicates by using American Sign Language, reading lips and
through written word. When the company contacted Thomas to attend a
group interview, Thomas' mother advised that Thomas was deaf and
requested the company to provide an interpreter for the interview. The
retailer refused and said that if Thomas wished to attend a group
interview in November 2011, then she would have to provide her own
interpreter, the EEOC alleges.
Thomas's mother interpreted for her during a group interview, but the company refused to hire Thomas despite her qualifications for and ability to perform the team member position, with or without a reasonable accommodation, the EEOC said in its lawsuit.
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