Voyant Beauty Worker Fired on Her First Day After Firm Discovered She Was Deaf

According to a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Voyant Beauty, a maker of skincare, hair, and bath products in Illinois, dismissed a worker on her first day of employment after finding out she was deaf, reports Business Insider.

The lawsuit claims that the woman was put in the role of production worker at the Countryside, Illinois, site of Voyant by a staffing agency.

The EEOC’s lawsuit alleges that on the worker’s first day, “Voyant learned that she was deaf and informed her that because she is deaf, Voyant was ending her employment there.”

In a press release issued on Tuesday, the EEOC said that the worker had the right requirements to carry out the job and was capable of performing essential job functions.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in September, the EEOC claimed that by terminating the worker, the beauty company breached the Americans with Disabilities Act, which obligates companies to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.

However, Voyant denied the allegations.

Gregory Gochanour, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, said, “Relying on unfounded stereotypes about an individual’s disability in making employment decisions is illegal.” He added, “A decision not to hire someone with a disability based on a safety concern must be based on an individualized assessment of the person’s actual ability to safely perform the essential functions of the job, potentially with accommodations. The ADA requires this to be determined based on objective evidence, not assumptions or guesswork.”

On Tuesday, under a consent order signed by both sides, Voyant agreed to pay the former worker $75,000, which is a sum of $30,000 in back pay and $45,000 in compensatory damages.

The beauty company also committed to conducting annual training sessions for all supervisory staff members on the subject of disability discrimination.