A federal judge entered a consent decree on June 15
requiring a nationwide staffing company to pay $100,000 to a blind
woman against whom the company discriminated because of her blindness
according to a suit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Balance Staffing’s owner
Robert Feinstein hired Jocelyn Snower, a recruiter, to help him launch
a Balance Staffing center in Illinois, which was named Balance
Financial, Inc. The EEOC said that when Robert Feinstein hired Snower,
he did not realize that she was blind, but when learned she was, he
immediately revoked the job offer, even though she had already started
recruiting for him.
Discrimination in employment on account of disability violates Title
I of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit EEOC v. Balance Staffing and Balance Staffing d/b/a Balance Financial, Inc.,
No. 09 CV-06004) on September 25, 2009 in U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois in Chicago after first attempting to
reach a voluntary settlement out of court through its conciliation
process.
The three-year consent decree resolving the suit, approved by U.S.
District Judge Ruben Castillo. with the consent of the parties, will
also require Balance Staffing and Balance Professional, Inc. to report
any further complaints of disability discrimination or retaliation to
the EEOC. The owner and manager of the company will also have to be
trained annually on disability discrimination. The decree contains an
injunction prohibiting the companies from engaging in further
discrimination on the basis of disability and from retaliating against
anyone who opposes disability discrimination, files a discrimination
charge or participates in a government investigation, proceeding, or
hearing.