Posted on 10/10/2006 12:59:50 PM PDT by SmithL
San Francisco -- A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that UPS Inc. violated anti-discrimination laws by automatically barring the deaf and hearing-impaired from driving parcel delivery trucks.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson's 2004 ruling that the Atlanta-based company's practices breach the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Henderson, in a class-action case representing as many as 1,000 would-be drivers, ruled that the hearing impaired should "be given the same opportunities that a hearing applicant would be given to show that they can perform the job of package-car driver safely and effectively." The San Francisco federal court order was stayed pending appeal.
On appeal, UPS maintained its hiring practice was a safety issue and that it was not discriminating. The company did not immediately have a comment, a spokesman said.
"While UPS offered anecdotal testimony involving situations where a driver avoided an accident because he or she heard a warning sound, the company ... failed to show that those accidents would not also have been avoided by a deaf driver who was compensated for his or her loss of hearing by, for example, adapting modified driving techniques or using compensatory devices such as backing cameras or additional mirrors," Judge Marsha Berzon wrote for a three-judge panel of the appeals court.
The case was litigated by Disability Rights Advocates who represented current and former employees who were passed over for driving positions, and other potential employees who consented to what the group dubbed UPS's "deaf-need-not-apply" policy.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Most all of these Asinine remarks about those who are Deaf, I can guarantee you, have NEVER even dealt/interacted with someone who is. It always Amazes me how Those who do hear, are the most Dumb-Ass and LEAST Preceptive of all.
Just when you think our society can't possibly go any deeper in it's own cesspool, it goes and grabs a mask & snorkel.....
Not to mention the fact that without insurance you can't drive in California. It's against the law. If the insurance cos. won't cover deaf truck drivers, then UPS is caught between two government evils.
Uh okay, you made that up.
Let's see some documentation, please provide us a link here.
Thanks.
Actually the Vestibular Disorder itself in some cases is enough to do it. I'm not making it up either. I know it because it is my disability. Not many doctors however deal with this problem. Vestibular Disorders can cause a secondary disabling condition called General Anxiety Disorder. This was discovered by a research Neurologist/psychiatrist in the late 1970's. But here is a link that goes into what I am saying. Note the source is not from mental health but rather a V.E.D.A. related site. COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF VESTIBULAR DISORDERS
There are quite a few of us out here with Vestibular or sensory processing disorder induced General Anxiety Disorder. It is a Neurological condition and unlike many cases of Panic Disorder or General Anxiety Disorder is not caused by traumatic or phobic origins.
Please read my post a bit more. I have what is called Stimulus-sensitive myoclonus is triggered by a variety of external events, including noise, movement, and light. Surprise may increase the sensitivity of the patient. Source: Myoclonus Fact Sheet In my case sensory flooding {overload} brings on these type of seizures. It is more or less worse case scenario sensory induced General Anxiety Disorder. Many people have it to a much lesser degree but do not realize it. I'll give you a common example.
A person walks into a Walmart lets say 8:00pm the person is relaxed looking for a few items he is remembering in his head. Some blank CD's, light bulbs, pencils, and a can of soup. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? You start walking toward electronics dept. You look on the shelf and try to pick out a brand maybe talk to someone with you when the in store PA screams I need a member of management. Now what was it I was doing oh yea CD's let's see there's Memerox , Sony, and{I need a member of management" in a louder than needed volume. Let's see jewel cases or "I need a member of management" OK under your breath shut up!
You're getting kinda agitated at this point and wanting to end the shopping and get out. Got the CD's now what was it I came in here for? " I need a member of management" light bulbs, & pencils, something else "Electronics line one" Ok where's the pencils? See what I'm saying the brain has done dropped one item from memory and agitation is growing.
By the time this persons gets a pencil getting out of the store is becoming more of a priority. They are becoming quite agitated but I doubt the realize why. They get to the check out with three of four items. The lines are long, kids are screaming, and they say enough of it and walk out. Some don't even make it that far. Coming back a midnight they likely can complete the task.
Most people can handle it. Many Vestibular patients can't and many don't realize why. It is sensory bombardment. They can shop but the store announcements are competing with their concentration. This leads to agitation. The person starts avoiding the offending store or any store but still doesn't understand why. I've noticed Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot, and many grocery stores are like this.
The Panic attack in these cases comes from sensory processing overload. It can happen on the interstate driving or it can happen at home watch TV. It takes some detective work to learn your triggers.
Many Vestibular patients also have problems with understanding conversation. You can pass an audio test fine. But sitting down at a table with relatives you hear all and can understand none. It can actually seem like partial deafness as you will be asking the person to repeat things many times. The sensory system is trying to process all the conversations though.
Ironically I am loosing my hear. That's the bad part. The good part is I have fewer attacks. I also have 5000-8000 cycle Tinnitus so bad I can not hear between those ranges in most cases. It is multi frequency.
I'll go even deeper into this and show you a real good one. You know what ADD and ADHD is right? Or is it actually? Ever hear of C.A.P.D. It stands for Central Auditory Processing Disorders. I have that and I also have the visual portion as well.
I was misdiagnosed 40 years ago with ADD ADHD. You can look it up and you'll see why it is easily mistaken for ADD ADHD.
For anyone reading this who thinks it may relate to them I very highly recommend a book called "Phobia Free" by Harold Levinson MD. The book changed how I dealt with this and explained what happened. I had real bad sinus allergies as a kid.l Sinus allergies, Chronic Ear Infections etc can damage the Vestibular System.
The man was literally ridiculed by the mental health profession. But Vestibular Researchers are validating much of what he says in that book. It is based on some discoveries he made in the mid 1970's treating patients with Anxiety Disorders.
Treatment for this must be approached from the Vestibular aspect. Many shrinks use a SSRI or other antidepressant treatment protocol for G.A.D. In patients with sensory damage this can lead to an adverse reaction to them called Serotonin Syndrome. It has to be treated with Benzo class tranquilizers. I have seen a couple of people have that reaction one was my wife and I was almost there myself. It can be fatal. It's like giving the patient LSD. The patient shows up at an ER and Dr Clueless doesn't do a PDR look up of Trazodone and Zoloft. He says the patient is pyschotic up the SSRI's and transfer to a mental care facility that is just as clueless. All because the patient has a Vestibular Disorder and was given the wrong meds.
I've had this to a disabling degree since 1994. Some of it is what I have found out through research like the links and some is speaking from personal experience. I use Vestibular sites in most of my research. Every person with a disability has to understand their limits and act responsibly within them.
I managed to pass two military enlistment exams as well. The doctors failed to check both my eyes at once. I also passed a D.O.T. physical in 1984 and drove an 18 wheeler. But the longer the brain has to deal with the compensating the more likely you are to have what happened to me. All it takes to be the straw that breaks the camels back is a life altering event or stress. It can be a positive event such as a much wanted promotion or stress over loosing your job etc.
Let me clarify what I posted. If a person applying for UPS driver is deaf or partially deaf and also has visual impairments like single eye functional vision or sensory processing issues then it should be a no hire. That person is a much higher risk than a driver simply being deaf because it is multi-sensory issues. They may be able to drive a car but commerical driving is another matter all together.
I read your previous post in here again. I would never make fun of a persons disability. Short school bus veteran for two years myself and married to a wonderful woman sentenced to life in a wheelchair. And my grand son is partially deaf we just found out. He'll be fitted for hearing aids in a few weeks. He had chronic ear infections. I've had friends with about every disability you can think of like Polio, MD, CP, autistic, legally blind, and deaf. Most of them I went to school with. I do with family and friends make fun of myself though and my own problems. You gotta keep your humor about the situation it's good medicine :>} My dad tells me that I do real good for a 78 year old man {his age}.
EH?
Well, I learned something new today. Thanks for educating me on this issue.
I hope that all is well with you.
I went through a drive thru ATM once that had braille key pads.
Drive-up ATM machines accommodate the blind. Why can't UPS?
A very good point, which means if they can get the license then they meet the requirements.
Isn't that what those bumps in the road are for?
So nobody in the government will have a problem if I disconnect my horn and remove all the hardware, right? I mean, all that extra weight kills my mileage, and it's obviously unfair for me to use a piece of equipment that discriminates in favor of the hearing. I know, it's state law, but the state law is obviously discriminatory according to this ruling.
Are blind drivers suing yet???
Safety and liability issues aside, how on earth do they expect the drivers to communicate with customers?
ROTFLOL at your tageline....
Depends on how little the brown vans are. Frankly, I expect to see larger trucks that do require a CDL rather than UPS going through the expense of increased liability insurance rates. Whether deaf drivers are more or less accident prone isn't as much a problem as is the tort costs associated with an accident. That and the communications barrier that would occur between a deaf driver and a customer.
Thanks, this is what happens when you just go along for the ride.
Any update? Its been almost 10 years, ups should allow hearing impaired to drive any size of trucks??
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