SAN FRANCISCO, (Oct. 22, 2004) — A federal judge in the U.S. has ruled that parcel delivery giant UPS Inc. violates anti-discrimination laws by barring the deaf and hearing-impaired from driving delivery trucks.

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson said the Atlanta-based company’s practices breach the Americans with Disabilities Act, and ordered revisions in corporate policies within 30 days.

In a class-action case representing as many as 1,000 would-be drivers, the judge said those with poor hearing should be given the same opportunities that a hearing applicant would be given.

The company — which said the issue is about public safety, not discrimination — is considering an appeal.

Last year, under a $10-million settlement in the same case, UPS agreed to track promotions and ensure that hearing-impaired employees and job applicants have access to certified interpreters. The company also agreed to provide text telephones and vibrating pagers to alert hearing-impaired employees to emergency evacuations.

The settlement resolved all issues in the five-year-old case except the driver dispute.

The case centred on UPS’s policy of denying hearing-impaired workers jobs operating delivery trucks weighing under 10,000 pounds (4,545 kilograms).

Federal rules demand that trucks exceeding 10,000 pounds be have drivers meeting certain vision and hearing requirements.

— from Associated Press