The company didn’t hire a deaf man as a parking valet. It had to pay him $150,000 instead
.jpeg)
The valet company that parks cars at Miami’s Four Seasons and Miami Beach’s Ritz-Carlton hotels settled a federal discrimination lawsuit by paying $150,000 to an applicant who doesn’t have hearing.
But Miami resident and applicant Kareem Dore does have a valid driver’s license and a driving record that passed USA Parking Systems’ scrutiny. Dore also has an ability to drive a stick shift. He has various ways of communicating, including speech.
But he didn’t feel he got a fair look in interviews with USA Parking at either place after filling out an application online.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission agreed and filed the lawsuit in Miami federal court against USA Parking Systems.
“USA Parking did not conduct an individualized assessment or individual inquiry to evaluate whether Mr. Dore could perform the job of Valet Attendant,” the EEOC’s suit claimed.
The case-settling consent decree allows USA Parking to officially deny all allegations in the suit, including that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. But the decree also says USA Parking had to pony up $30,000 to Dore in back pay and $120,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
USA Parking also must provide notice of open jobs in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to the Hearing and Speech Center for Florida as a way of recruiting hearing-impaired applicants.
“The EEOC will continue to fight for deaf job applicants’ rights under the ADA to be provided an interpreter when they are interviewed for employment,” said Robert E. Weisberg, regional attorney for the EEOC Miami District Office. “Deaf individuals too often face discrimination at the interview stage, which denies them even the opportunity to be considered for employment.”
Dore felt prematurely classified soon after arriving at the Four Seasons for his interview. After telling a USA Parking employee he was deaf, Dore said he was seated in a waiting area with several other job candidates. Each candidate was taken to a private area for an interview.
Dore told the EEOC that he noticed his interview, during which he communicated via lip-reading and written questions and answers, was shorter and held in an open space. It also didn’t include any questions about how well he could do the job.
After not getting that valet position, USA Parking told Dore his application had been sent to the company’s Ritz-Carlton office.
The lawsuit claims assistant manager Angel Lopez “initially refused to accommodate Mr. Dore’s accommodation request” to the interview in written question and answer form. Lopez eventually agreed to do so.
“Mr. Lopez asked if Mr. Dore could hear customers talking,” the lawsuit said. “When Mr. Dore responded that he could not hear customers talking, Mr. Lopez told Mr. Dore that he could not hear a car behind him.”
Shortly after the interivew, the suit said, Dore was told he was “not suitable for the job.” The position remained open until a non-hearing impaired person was hired.
This story was originally published March 21, 2019 at 11:42 AM.
