The employer's own phone screening questions caught the EEOC's attention
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued an Indiana nonprofit, alleging it rejected a deaf applicant for a housekeeping job because of his disability.
The lawsuit, filed on March 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, accuses Damar Services, Inc. of turning away Corey Garner after learning during a phone interview that he is deaf. According to the case filing, Damar told Garner the organization could not accommodate his disability — then rejected him, citing a lack of experience.
But the experience explanation does not hold up under scrutiny, the EEOC contends. Garner had stated in his application that he had one to two years of housekeeping experience, and Damar selected him for the interview despite that. During the call on March 1, 2023, Garner described his background, including work at a nursing home where he cleaned patient rooms and handled laundry. It was only after the interview revealed his deafness, the agency alleges, that Damar said it could not accommodate him and turned him down.
The hiring record raises further questions. The EEOC alleges that within three months of Garner's February 2023 application, Damar hired at least two other people for the same role — one with less than three years of housekeeping experience, another with less than two months. Damar's Indeed posting did not even list an experience requirement, though its internal job description called for three years.
For HR professionals, the more instructive part of the case may be what was embedded in Damar's own hiring tools. The EEOC alleges the organization's standardized Phone Screen Guide — the template interviewers were expected to follow — included questions asking applicants whether they could hear in the normal audio range and see in the normal visual range, with or without correction. The job posting itself listed those same abilities as essential functions of the role.
Those types of pre-employment questions are the kind that get employers into trouble. Under federal law, employers cannot ask questions during the hiring process that are likely to surface information about a disability. And any standard that effectively screens out people with disabilities has to be directly tied to the job and supported by business necessity — a bar the EEOC says Damar did not clear for a housekeeping position.
Before going to court, the EEOC investigated the charge, found reasonable cause, and tried to resolve the matter through conciliation. When those discussions broke down, the agency filed suit.
The EEOC is now asking the court for a permanent injunction, back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and an order requiring Damar to overhaul its hiring policies. It has also requested a jury trial.
No determination has been made in the case, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Damar Services, Inc., No. 1:26-cv-575, and Damar has not yet had the opportunity to respond.
