The Results Companies to Pay $250,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

DALLAS — The Results Companies, LLC, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based business services outsourcing firm, agreed to pay $250,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s suit, The Results Companies hired an employee who is blind as a telephonic customer service representative to work from its call center in Wichita Falls, Texas. After accepting the position, the employee requested to use screen reader software as a reasonable accommodation so that she could review written material on her computer screen. Screen readers convert text and other information on computers into synthesized speech.

The lawsuit charged that the company did not take reasonable steps to facilitate the employee’s use of screen reader software, refused the employee’s suggestion that the company contact her vocational counselor and the publisher of her screen reader software to request technical assistance, and then fired her because she required the reasonable accommodation.  

This alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from making employment decisions based on an individual’s disability or need for reasonable accommodation and requires them to make accommodations absent an undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit (Civil Action No. 7:24-cv-00128) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Wichita Falls Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The two-year consent decree settling the suit, approved by U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, requires The Results Companies to provide internal training about rights and responsibilities under the ADA and implement a plan for handling requests for accommodation from future employees who require access to screen reader technology.

“Generalized conclusions will not support a claim of undue hardship,” said Travis Nicholson, director of the EEOC’s Dallas District Office. “It is important for employers to meaningfully participate in the interactive process once an employee requests a reasonable accommodation and gather information specific to the situation at hand, even if they may not be familiar with the requested accommodation.”

Alexa Lang, a trial attorney in the EEOC’s Dallas District Office, said, “Accommodating employees who are blind with screen reader software such as JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is not automatically an undue hardship. Employers must meaningfully assess their technical capabilities and available resources.”

For more information on disability discrimination against individuals who are blind or visually impaired, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/visual-disabilities-workplace-and-americans-disabilities-act. For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination.

The EEOC’s Dallas District Office is responsible for processing charges of discrimination, administrative enforcement, and the conduct of agency litigation in Texas and parts of New Mexico.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; the EEOC is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.