[blindlaw] FW: Rockford firm charged with bias.

[McCarthy, Jim]

This is some of the work of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and they should be applauded for it.  The driver's license issue is still far to pervasive, I think.
Jim McCarthy
Rockford firm charged with bias.

August 24, 2006.
Rockford Register Star - Rockford,IL,USA.

CHICAGO - A Rockford company discriminated against a legally blind Machesney
Park man when it rescinded a job offer because of his disability, the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday.

The EEOC charged that QualxServ LLC, a Massachusetts-based computer
maintenance company, offered a technician position to William Landram in May
2004, but backed out later after learning that he did not have a valid
drivers
license. Because the work required travel to fix computers and servers,
Landram had offered to provide his own driver and car.

He had a reasonable accommodation and employers are required to provide a
reasonable accommodation, unless they can prove it was an undue hardship,
said June Calhoun, EEOC trial attorney.  They told us their insurance
carrier
won't allow this, but they were never able to give proof of that, which led
us to believe that was a pretense.

 A phone message left for human resources personnel at QualxServ's corporate
office was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Landram has since moved from the Rock River Valley. He was diagnosed with
retinitis pigmentosa in 1989, a deterioration of the retina that left his
vision severely limited.

The EEOC complaint charges that QualxServ violated the Americans With
Disabilities Act. The EEOC has not decided how much to seek in punitive
damages, but the maximum fine is $300,000 depending on Qualx-Serv's size,
Calhoun said.

On its Web site, QualxServ says it has 150 field locations and 2,000
employees.

Staff writer Nate Legue may be reached at 815-987-1346 or
nlegue at rrstar.com.

http://www.rrstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060824/BUSINESS/108240049