Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. United Parcel Service, Inc.

These consolidated appeals involve monocular employees of United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) who wanted to drive small trucks and vans but are not qualified to do so under a vision protocol that UPS developed when the Department of Transportation (DOT) removed vehicles weighing less than 10,001 pounds from its own vision safety standards. At least two of these employees filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which issued a reasonable-cause determination. The EEOC then brought this action under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., alleging that UPS’s vision protocol discriminates against disabled persons who are otherwise qualified to drive small trucks and vans. Several employees intervened (Shawn Hogya, James Francis, James Aikens and Chris Wilson), and brought separate claims under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, Cal. Govt. Code § 12940 et seq. The case went to trial as to four pilot claimants, Francis, Hogya, Stephen Ligas, and Raymond Brown, to resolve their individual claims and certain common issues including validity of the vision protocol.

Following a bench trial, the…