Saturday, May 22, 2010

California sued by deaf, hard of hearing employees over failure to accommodate them

From The AP:

SAN FRANCISCO — Deaf and hard-of-hearing state employees are suing California officials, claiming the state has failed to properly accommodate their disability.

The lawsuit seeking class action status was filed May 21 in San Francisco Superior Court.

The employees say the state regularly fails to provide interpreters during meetings, job training and performance reviews. It also says the state does not have adequate evacuation procedures or warning lights to alert deaf people during an emergency.

The lawsuit does not seek monetary damages, only improvements to state procedures. There are about 1,500 state workers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

The governor's office and state attorney general's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They are defendants in the case.