Werner to pay more than $300k to deaf trucker in discrimination lawsuit

A federal judge has ordered Werner Enterprises to pay a deaf trucker six figures in a discrimination case, significantly reducing a jury verdict awarding tens of millions of dollars.

A judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska recently entered a final judgment in favor of Victor Robinson for more than $335,000 in a disability discrimination lawsuit against Werner. In September, a jury awarded Robinson more than $36 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

The trial revealed a practice of not hiring hearing-impaired drivers, which the court ordered Werner to document for the next three years.

Werner accused of denying employment to deaf drivers

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

Robinson, who has been deaf 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 CDL school 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 deaf. 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 deaf 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 deaf 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 vs. jury verdict

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

The Civil Rights Act of 1991 gave plaintiffs in employment discrimination lawsuits the ability to receive damages related to emotional pain and suffering, as well as punitive damages. Prior to the act, plaintiffs could collect only out-of-pocket losses, including back pay and attorney fees. However, the 1991 statute set a cap on how much in damages can be awarded.

Accordingly, federal law limits the amount of compensatory and punitive damages to $300,000 for employers with more than 500 employees. Per the federal law, a court is not to inform the jury of these limitations.

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, the judge ordered Werner to 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 or not 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. LL