Hiland to pay $140K to resolve discrimination lawsuit
Jan. 7—Hiland Dairy Foods will pay $140,000 to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of a man denied employment by the company's Norman plant, the agency announced Friday.
According to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City in May 2021, Hiland refused to hire the man because of his vision impairment, the commission said in a news release.
"Hiland initially offered the applicant a dairy plant worker position knowing he had a disability, but then withdrew the offer after a standard pre-employment medical exam," the release stated.
"The doctor responsible for the exam claimed the man was a "safety concern" because he was "legally blind," even though the doctor never personally met or examined the man and based his opinion solely on a simple vision test."
According to the news release, neither Hiland nor the doctor considered whether any assistive devices or other reasonable accommodations could have mitigated the potential safety concerns.
The alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination due to disability, the commission stated.
"The ADA requires employers to evaluate workers with disabilities based on their actual ability to perform a job, with or without reasonable accommodation, and not on irrational fears or stereotypes," said Andrea G. Baran, a commission attorney. "Labels like 'legally blind' are irrelevant to an individual's ability to work."
A consent decree requires Hiland to pay monetary damages to the applicant and to adopt policies, enact procedures and provide employee training to ensure future ADA compliance, according to the commission.
Hiland Dairy Foods, a Springfield, Missouri-based producer and distributor of dairy products, operates 19 plants and 64 distribution centers across eight states.
