Damar Services to Pay $65,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit Over Rejection of Deaf Housekeeping Applicant

Residential services provider resolves federal lawsuit on qualification standards that disqualify applicants with hearing or vision disabilities

INDIANAPOLIS — Damar Services, Inc., an Indianapolis residential services provider for individuals with developmental disabilities, will pay $65,000 and provide other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Damar applied hiring standards which screened out applicants with hearing and vision disabilities, made prohibited disability-related inquiries, and rejected a qualified housekeeper applicant because he is deaf, despite his ability to perform the job with or without reasonable accommodation.

The lawsuit alleged that on March 1, 2023, Damar conducted a phone interview, learned of the applicant’s deafness during that interview, and told him it could not accommodate his disability and then rejected the applicant. Additionally, the company’s interview questions included prohibited medical inquiries, and its qualification standards required applicants to communicate verbally and hear and see within normal ranges.

“The EEOC is appreciative that Damar worked cooperatively to negotiate an early resolution to this suit,” said Kenneth Bird, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Indianapolis District. “Employers must satisfy strict requirements if they impose a qualification standard that screens out an individual with a disability.”

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which prohibits disability discrimination. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Damar Services, Inc., Case No. 1:26-cv-00575-MPB-TAB) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

In addition to paying $65,000 in monetary relief under the two-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit, Damar will update and implement written policies and procedures to remove vision- and hearing-related requirements from job postings; engage the services of a vocational rehabilitation specialist to review the company’s facilities, policies, procedures, and qualification standards; provide training to staff; post an employee notice about disability discrimination; and provide reports to the EEOC.

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination. Information on disability accommodations is available at the Job Accommodation Network at: https://askjan.org/.

The EEOC’s Indianapolis District Office has jurisdiction over Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and parts of Ohio.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.