Jonathan R. Mook on ADA and Hearing Impaired Workers: Bates v. United Parcel Services, Inc.

Jonathan R. Mook examines the 9th Circuit decision in Bates v. United Parcel Services, Inc. , a major decision reversing a ruling of the courts panel that UPS had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by excluding hearing-impaired individuals from package-car driver positions.

In its en banc decision, the Ninth Circuit held that the district court had employed an erroneous legal analysis in concluding that the hearing-impaired plaintiffs were qualified individuals with disabilities and that UPS could not establish a business necessity defense for its hearing qualification standard.