EEOC Issues Guidance on Accommodating Job Applicants and Employees with Hearing Disabilities

On January 24, 2023, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released updated guidance on how the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to job applicants and employees with hearing disabilities. The Q&A resource comes on the heels of the EEOC’s announcement of two settlements—one for $44,250 and the other for $180,000—with two employers accused of adverse employment actions against deaf individuals in violation of the ADA. Although the EEOC guidance does not contain new legal mandates, it is an important reminder to educational employers of how the agency will apply existing legal standards in cases involving individuals with hearing disabilities. Employers should review the guidance and their policies, procedures, and practices to mitigate the risk of challenges of employment discrimination by applicants and employees with hearing disabilities. The following is a summary of the major points from the guidance that employers should know.

STATS 101: EEOC Filings are Still Down, but Certain Claims are More Popular than Ever

Recent data published by the EEOC shows a continuing downward trend in the number of employment-related charges. For example, EEOC data shows a decline of more than 27,000 charges filed annually in 2021 as compared to the number of charges filed in 2014. There are a number of factors contributing to this decline, including the impact of COVID-19 and the resulting labor shortages and—until recently—the relative ease of finding new employment. As the country continues to recover from the pandemic and face uncertain economic conditions, however, digging a little deeper into the data can reveal a few trends that may help guide educational employers in addressing areas of employment challenges that are certain to continue.