DALLAS — National discount retailer Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Inc, violated federal law when it refused to hire a profoundly deaf applicant at its distribution warehouse in Lancaster, Texas because of her disability and subjected her to an overtly discriminatory qualification standard, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, in May 2025, Ollie’s refused to hire the applicant, who had several years of experience working in warehouse roles with comparable duties, because of her profound deafness. Ollie’s also subjected the applicant to a physical qualification standard requiring its workers in certain distribution warehouse positions to have the ability to hear, a requirement that intentionally screens out and tends to screen out individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired in violation of federal law, the suit charged.

“September 25 marks the 18-year anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008, which clarified that Congress intended for the ADA to provide disabled workers, including deaf and hearing-impaired individuals, with broad coverage and protection,” said acting EEOC Dallas District Regional Attorney Ronald L. Phillips. “Those amendments to the ADA have produced progress in disability rights, but much more remains to be done to fulfill the statute’s stated goal of ensuring that disabled workers have ‘the opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to pursue those opportunities for which our free society is justifiably famous.’”

The type of conduct alleged in the EEOC’s complaint violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended by the ADAAA, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and use of employment qualification standards that screen or tends to screen out individuals with disabilities unless those standards are shown to be job-related for the particular position and consistent with business necessity. The EEOC filed suit (U.S. EEOC v. Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Inc., Case No. 3:26-cv-03222-B) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

EEOC Dallas District Office Director Travis Nicholson said, “Unfortunately, deaf and hearing-impaired workers continue to face needless discriminatory barriers to full and equal participation in our nation’s economy. Some employers rely on stereotypes, myths and unfounded fears about deaf workers and their disabilities rather than accurate, individualized information about their abilities, leading to erroneous conclusions that those workers are unable to perform essential job requirements. Employers must do better, and EEOC will hold them accountable when they don’t.”

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination.

The EEOC’s Dallas District Office has jurisdiction over a substantial part of Texas and parts of southern New Mexico.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.