Werner still on hook for discriminating against hearing-impaired driver

A federal court has finalized its judgement against Werner Enterprises in a case that challenges the trucking company’s hiring practices for hearing-impaired drivers.

A Nebraska federal court recently reaffirmed its January ruling that Werner must pay a deaf truck driver more than $335,000 in a discrimination lawsuit. In addition to the monetary penalties, the trucking company also must submit reports regarding hiring practices for hearing-impaired drivers.

The final judgment ends a nearly six-year case that exposed Werner’s practice of denying hearing-impaired drivers job opportunities despite receiving the necessary clearance from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

“During the course of this six-year litigation, Werner made inconsistent arguments,” Judge John Gerrard stated in his order. “It claimed it didn’t discriminate against hearing-impaired people, but even if it did, that’s allowed because actually, inexperienced hearing-impaired drivers can’t possibly be qualified for an over-the-road trucking job at Werner. Werner presented evidence that it did not, and would not ever, hire any hearing-impaired driver who had to engage in its placement driver program. At the same time, Werner argued it didn’t outright reject any inexperienced hearing-impaired applicants … contrary to the evidence Werner actually provided.”

Werner’s history of denying employment to hearing-impaired drivers

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the lawsuit against Werner in 2018 after failing to reach a settlement out of court.

Victor Robinson, who has been hearing-impaired since birth, received an exemption from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration from the hearing regulation in March 2015. He received his CDL in February 2016 after completing training at Roadmaster Drivers School in Indianapolis, a Werner-owned truck driving school.

Just before starting Werner’s orientation program, Robinson received a call from the company’s vice president of safety and compliance, Jaime Maus. Robinson explained to Maus how he is able to drive while being hearing-impaired. However, Maus told Robinson that he would not be hired because he could not hear.

Robinson attempted to address the decision with Werner, but to no avail. Consequently, he filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. A lawsuit was filed in a Nebraska federal court soon after a pre-litigation settlement was not reached during the EEOC’s conciliation process.

During the four-day trial that began last August, Maus testified that Werner continues to deny employment opportunities to new hearing-impaired drivers.

After five years of litigation, a jury awarded Robinson $75,000 in compensatory damages and $36 million in punitive damages.

“Werner’s refusal to acknowledge Mr. Robinson’s abilities hurt not only him but the entire hearing-impaired community,” EEOC’s trial team said in a statement. “As this verdict demonstrates, companies like Werner that deny reasonable accommodations to drivers with disabilities do so at their peril.”

However, that verdict would be severely reduced.

Final judgment

Instead of paying out millions of dollars, Werner has been ordered to pay Robinson less than 1% of the verdict award.

Federal law limits the amount of compensatory and punitive damages to $300,000 for employers with more than 500 employees. Based on the federal cap, the judge in Robinson’s case had to reduce the $36,075,000 in damages to $300,000. On top of that, Robinson also was awarded nearly $36,000 in back pay.

In addition to the monetary award, Werner must submit reports regarding hiring practices for hearing-impaired drivers. Specifically, the company must provide contact information of any hearing-impaired trucker applicant, the date of that application and whether the person was hired.

If a hearing-impaired applicant is denied, Werner must report the basis for declining employment. For hearing-impaired applicants that are hired, the company must report whether that driver remains employed six months after the starting date. If the driver is no longer with the company, Werner must state the reason behind the separation of employment.

Werner must submit a report at least every six months for the next three years.

In February, Werner challenged the judgment by asking for a new trial. However, that motion was denied in the latest ruling. The trucking company also asked the court to remove the mandatory three-year report regarding hearing-impaired applicants. That motion also was denied. LL