It looks like a deaf woman, Kayla Vogt, from Minnesota has won a $180,000 lawsuit settlement from a hospital after she was denied employment as a greeter. Reports say the hospital told her that the pandemic mask regulation may stop her ability to communicate and read lips. The 26-year-old said in the federal lawsuit that she was capable of getting the job done. She applied to North Memorial Health back in 2020, reports the Star Tribune.
The job role consisted of greeting visitors as well as enforcing mask regulations. She would also have to keep the area arranged and give directions to visitors. In the lawsuit, she mentioned that she has hearing aids, which allows her to
“hear people speaking without any difficulty. Vogt can communicate verbally [and] can also communicate with American Sign Language.”
North Memorial Health argued that the greeters
“needed to communicate quickly and succinctly with visitors regarding visitor policy, assess visitors’ understanding and compliance, and troubleshoot [while] communication was significantly hindered by COVID-necessitated face masks.”
This week, the 26-year-old and the hospital came to a
“consent decree.”
This means that although the hospital has denied that they did anything wrong, they chose to give her the funds and take other measures to acknowledge an individual’s rights that are secured under the Americans with Disabilities Act, reports the news outlet.
Within the two-year term of the consent decree the hospital has to
“apply its disability anti-discrimination and reasonable accommodation policies”
to each applicant and train all employees who are affiliated with the hiring process.
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
