FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2018
COURT GRANTS JUDGEMENT AND INJUNCTION IN FAVOR OF EEOC IN AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT LAWSUIT
UPS Freight’s Policy of Paying Disabled
Drivers Less Violates
Federal Law, Court Rules
ST. LOUIS – A federal judge in the U.S. District
Court for District of Kansas ruled on July 27, 2018, that UPS Freight violated federal
law by having a policy, contained in its current union
contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, of paying disabled drivers
only ninety percent of what nondisabled drivers earn when they temporarily move
to non-driving jobs.
The U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit
in August 2017 (Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission v. UPS Ground Freight, Inc., Civil Action No. 2:17-cv-02453)
to obtain relief for Mr. Thomas Diebold. Mr. Diebold worked for UPS Freight from
2006 to 2015 as a driver at its Service Center in Kansas City, Kan. After
suffering a minor stroke in 2013, Diebold sought non-driving work, as allowed
by the company when drivers are temporarily unable to drive, whether for
medical or nonmedical reasons, such as convictions for driving while
intoxicated. But under UPS policy, later formalized in a collective bargaining
agreement (CBA) between UPS Freight and the union, drivers with disabilities
like Mr. Diebold who were reassigned to non-driving work for medical reasons
were paid 10% less than drivers who were reassigned for non-medical reasons.
Considering the
issue of UPS Freight’s policy, Chief Judge Julie A. Robinson agreed with
the EEOC and ruled the policy violates Title I of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) because it “(1)
limit[s], segregat[es], or classif[ies] drivers because of disability adversely
affecting the opportunities or status of disabled drivers and (2) us[es] standards,
criteria, or methods of administration that have the effect of discrimination
on the basis of disability.” UPS Freight also violated the law “by participating in a contractual
relationship with the [union] that expressly discriminates
against medically disabled UPS Freight drivers.” In addition to declaring that the
policy and union contract violated the law, the court issued an injunction order
“permanently
[preventing UPS Freight] from discriminating on the basis of disability in
violation of [the ADA and preventing] UPS Freight and the [union] from
negotiating and ratifying terms of the next collective bargaining agreement
which would discriminate on the basis of disability in violation [of the ADA].”
Andrea
G. Baran, EEOC’s regional attorney in the St. Louis District Office, said, “The
ADA is a powerful legal tool to protect workers from unlawful discrimination based
on disability, and the EEOC will vigorously challenge such discriminatory policies
and practices. It is also important that the Court ruled UPS Freight’s claim of
simply following the terms of its union contract is no defense to violating the
law.”
“We
are very pleased the Court recognized the gravity of UPS Freight’s illegal
policy and granted our injunction,” said Grant R. Doty, an EEOC senior trial attorney
in St. Louis. “This will have an
immediate impact on thousands of UPS Freight’s drivers nationwide who are
subject to the policy and union contract.”
The
EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment
discrimination. The St. Louis District Office oversees Missouri, Kansas,
Nebraska, Oklahoma, and a portion of southern Illinois.
The
EEOC advances opportunity in
the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information
is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected
with the latest
EEOC news by subscribing to our
email updates.
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