Staffing Company Failed to Refer Applicant because She is Deaf, Federal Agency Says

BALTIMORE – Lyneer Staffing, LLC, a leading national staffing agency, violated federal law when it failed to refer an applicant for a position at a retail warehouse because she is deaf, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.

According to the lawsuit, a deaf applicant sought a position working in a warehouse through Lyneer Staffing LLC. Initially, she was referred to the client-employer, the client-employer accepted her as a worker and assigned her a start date. Before the applicant could start work a manager at Lyneer Staffing learned of the referral and instructed a subordinate to cancel the assignment due to the applicant’s disability. A representative of Lyneer Staffing then contacted the applicant and informed her that she could not be placed in the position because the employer did not have sign language interpreters available. Lyneer Staffing’s client was at all times willing to employ the applicant.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability. The ADA applies equally to employers and employment agencies that refer individuals for employment. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Lyneer Staffing Solutions, LLC., Civil Action No. 1:22-cv-02454) in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

“The EEOC will never tire in its fight to combat the biases and prejudices faced by deaf workers,” said EEOC Philadelphia District Director Jamie R. Williamson. “Employers and employment agencies cannot escape the duty to accommodate by simply shutting the door on qualified applicants.”

EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence added, “Employment agencies have the same duties as employers under the ADA. It is unfair, and against the law, to refuse to place an individual based on disability.”

The EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office is one of four offices in the EEOC Philadelphia District Office, which has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the EEOC Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.