An American woman receives a $180,000 settlement from a Minnesota hospital after the hospital administration refused to hire her due to her hearing impairment.
NBC News reports that Kayla Vogt, 26, of Maple Grove, filed a federal complaint against North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale last year, alleging that she was subjected to discrimination when the hospital became aware of her condition.
According to the suit, in July 2020, she applied for a role as a greeter at North Memorial Health. The job required welcoming visitors, providing directions, ensuring the mask requirement was being followed, and reading from a script to check for Covid symptoms.
A poster featuring photographs of Covid symptoms was available to the greeters, who could use it to interact with hospital visitors, according to the lawsuit.
The news report added that Ms. Vogt's interview with the manager was carried out via video relay service with an American Sign Language interpreter.
Ms. Vogt had disclosed to the employment agency that she had hearing loss, as well as the ways in which she can express herself verbally and through sign language, and that she wears hearing aids to enable her to hear speech "without any difficulty."
After the recruitment manager informed North Memorial Health about her condition, the hospital said that it would not be able to move forward with her application.
However, in court filings submitted in response to the complaint, the hospital strongly refuted the accusations.
The hospital will now have to reassess its workplace practises regarding disability discrimination in addition to paying a $180,000 settlement.
