UPS

This case concerns whether United Parcel Service (UPS) may categorically exclude individuals from employment positions as “package-car drivers” because they cannot pass a United States Department of Transportation (DOT) hearing standard that does not apply to the vehicles in question. A class of UPS employees and applicants unable to pass the DOT hearing standard — a class we refer to throughout this opinion as “Bates” (the last name of the original class’s lead plaintiff) — contends that this policy violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213 , and two California laws: (1) the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 12900-12996; and (2) the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Unruh Act), Cal. Civ. Code § 51 .

After the first phase of a bifurcated trial, the district court held in a detailed opinion that UPS violated the ADA, the FEHA, and the Unruh Act, and ordered injunctive relief. At the same time, the district court denied UPS’s motion for judgment on partial findings or, in the alternative, for class decertification. On appeal, UPS contends that (1) Bates did not establish that any class members are “qualified”; (2) UPS satisfied its…