ALEXANDRIA, Va. — United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), a national shipping, logistics, and supply chain management company, violated federal law when it failed to accommodate or hire a deaf applicant because of his disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the suit, in November 2024, a qualified deaf applicant applied for an entry-level package handling position in Chantilly, Virginia. UPS made a conditional offer of employment to the applicant, subject to his completion of a scheduled orientation.

When the applicant notified the company that he would need an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter to complete his orientation, UPS instructed him not to attend the event and advised it would reschedule his orientation. After hearing nothing from the company for weeks, the applicant contacted the company and was instructed to attend orientation the next day. When he arrived, he learned that UPS failed to arrange for an interpreter and he was instructed to leave. UPS then terminated his candidacy, according to the suit.

“Deaf workers face immense barriers to employment, and the ADA was designed to help remove those barriers,” said Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the Philadelphia District. “The law is crystal-clear that employers must provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees to enable them to enjoy equal employment opportunities. This includes providing ASL interpreter services to applicants and new hires who need them to enjoy equal participation in orientation or training.”

This alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits workplace discrimination based on disability and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities absent undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. United Parcel Service, Inc., Case No. 1:26-cv-3221) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

Mindy E. Weinstein, director of the EEOC’s Washington Field Office, said, “The ADA provides crucial protections to ensure applicants and employees with disabilities are not excluded from the workplace. EEOC is committed to providing robust enforcement to protect workers’ reasonable accommodation rights under the ADA.”

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

Also see EEOC’s technical assistance document “Hearing Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act” and the Job Accommodation Network for resources on accommodations.

The lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office. The Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, and portions of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C., and portions of Virginia.

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.