EEOC Sues Timken for Disability Discrimination

CHICAGO – Timken, Inc., which manufactures a range of supportive mechanical devices for industrial and aerospace uses, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it rescinded a job offer from a qualified applicant with decades of manufacturing experience because he is hard of hearing, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the suit, Timken interviewed the applicant, an engineer with decades of manufacturing experience, and offered him a manufacturing engineer position. However, the company subjected him to a pre-employment hearing test that required listening to someone standing five feet behind the applicant whisper letters and numbers. After the applicant did not pass this hearing test, Timken refused to hire him and did not discuss any reasonable accommodations which could have resolved any company concerns.

Such conduct violated the ADA, which prohibits employers from failing to hire qualified workers because of their disabilities. The EEOC filed suit in the Northern District of Illinois (EEOC v. Timken, Inc. 1:24-cv-08983), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the agency’s conciliation process. The EEOC seeks monetary relief for the applicant, as well as injunctive relief to prevent discriminatory practices in the future.

“Federal law protects the right of workers with disabilities to earn a living and be judged based on their qualifications,” said Greg Gochanour, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Chicago District Office. “If an employer is going to deny a job opportunity to a qualified individual with a disability based on a safety concern, that decision needs to be based on objective evidence, and the employer needs to consider whether any reasonable accommodations would address its concerns.”

“Under the ADA, qualification standards that tend to screen out individuals with disabilities may be permitted, but only if they are job-related and consistent with business necessity,” said Amrith Aakre, district director of the EEOC’s office in Chicago. “Employers may take legitimate steps to ensure safety in the workplace, but those steps must be based on the actual needs of the job in question and must be taken in compliance with the ADA.”

The EEOC's Chicago District Office is responsible for processing charges of employment discrimination, administrative enforcement and the conduct of agency litigation in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota, with area offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.

More information about disability discrimination is available at https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-disability-related-resources. 

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.