Alliance Ground International to Pay $70,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

CHICAGO – Alliance Ground International, Inc. (AGI), a Miami-based air cargo and logistics company, will pay $70,000 and provide additional relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, AGI refused to hire a qualified deaf applicant because of his disability and failed to consider any reasonable workplace accommodations. The applicant, who sought a mail agent position at AGI’s O’Hare-area warehouse, had extensive relevant work experience and an excellent work safety record, the EEOC said.

This alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires the accommodation of employees’ and applicants’ disabilities and prohibits firing or refusing to hire an applicant due to their disability, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer. The EEOC filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Civil Action No. 1:23−cv−14302) after attempting to resolve the matter through the agency's pre-litigation conciliation process.

Under the terms of the consent decree resolving the lawsuit, AGI will pay $70,000 in monetary compensation to the applicant and take corrective action to ensure future compliance with the ADA. The company will provide training on the ADA to employees involved in the hiring process and ensure it has a procedure for addressing disability accommodation requests in a timely and effective manner going forward. AGI will also report any future complaints of disability discrimination to the EEOC occurring during the decree’s two-year duration.

“Deaf Americans have proven time and time again that they are fully capable of meeting the highest standards of workplace professionalism and safety,” said Greg Gochanour, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Chicago District Office. “Unfortunately, misinformed assumptions about Deaf Americans remain all too common, resulting in violations of the ADA that are harmful both to Deaf workers individually and to the U.S. economy as a whole.”

Amrith Aakre, district director of the EEOC’s Chicago District, said “Too often, Deaf Americans face barriers to full participation in the workforce. This settlement demonstrates the EEOC’s commitment to breaking down those barriers and ensuring that Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals are afforded equal employment opportunities.”

The EEOC’s Chicago District Office is responsible for enforcing federal employment discrimination laws in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa.

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.