A startling number of discrimination cases are popping up in temporary employment agencies across the country. The reason?  It is hard to say, but the general thought is that even though these agencies operate on a high-turnover basis and tracking cases of discrimination within them can be nearly impossible, some cases have come to light that point to a larger problem.

Just this week, Melville, a New York-based Olsten temporary agency, settled a lawsuit that started in their Lacrosse, Wisconsin, branch. The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged that Olsten Staffing Services blatantly denied Zachary Schaefer a temporary position at Main Street Ingredients, a local food manufacturer, because Schaefer is deaf. The EEOC claimed that the ability to hear was not a clear job requirement, thus making Schaefer a viable candidate for the temporary position. The agency has agreed to pay Schaefer $70,000 in damages and $5,000 in lost pay. The company will also offer their employees training on the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

It seems some cases where people of color, with disabilities, or of a certain age have been denied jobs by temporary agencies are starting to be better reported. Just the same, well-known companies and trusted businesses are also being taken to court for alleged discrimination lawsuits.

Billion-dollar Internet mega-market eBay is also being sued by a deaf person.  Melissa Earll of Nevada, Montana, claims that due to her disability she is unable to communicate vocally by telephone and therefore is unable to verify her identity with eBay. The federal lawsuit filed this past Tuesday targets eBay’s seller’s registration system that requires would-be sellers to identify themselves via telephone. The lawsuit says that the current system violates the California Disabled Person Act as it excludes deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons from equal opportunities. In addition to damages, the suit is seeking to reform eBay’s current registration system so that people with disabilities can participate as sellers like everyone else.

Related Pages:

Discrimination Lawyer San Francisco

Racial Discrimination Attorney San Francisco

The Ohio Workers' Compensation Council was created nearly three years ago after a massive statewide scandal. The state’s insurance fund for injured workers was drained of a hefty $300 million as a result of being sunk into risky investments like Beanie Babies, collectable rare coins, and other financial gambles. In the wake of this financial disaster, the state of Ohio created the panel to assist lawmakers in policing the insurance fund.

In an ironic and equally scandalous twist, the Ohio Workers' Compensation Council itself is facing embarrassing allegations of religious discrimination, wrongful termination, age discrimination and retaliation.  The whirlwind of lawsuits all center on the council’s director, Virginia McInerney, who allegedly pushed her own religious beliefs on her staff members before firing them. Three female ex-employees allege that McInerney held mandatory prayer sessions, distributed religious literature and CDs to her staff, and subsequently fired them after tensions around the religious subject matter in the office erupted. The former workers state in separate letters that McInerney offered each of them severance agreements that would also release her from any legal claims. All three of the employees refused to sign.

Virginia McInerney has publicly denied the claims while refusing to discuss the nature of the firings in any depth. The three fired women had all been hired within the past year and appear to have been model employees with no previous disciplinary charges having been brought against them. Each of the women claim that McInerney gave them copies of the “God at Work” CD collection and required them to take notes on the religious material and share those notes with other staff members. Furthermore, office employees of different faiths started to feel uncomfortable with the office prayer policy.  Others were asked to do tasks to prevent acts of Satan. The three women are all seeking to change the status of their terminations from firings to a settlements.