November 15, 2004

Can you hear me now?

Here is a good issue for debate, ya'll.

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson last month ruled UPS Inc. violates anti-discrimination laws by barring the deaf and hearing-impaired from driving parcel delivery trucks.
He stayed the order, effective today, to allow UPS to continue its policy pendin' review of his rulin' by the 9th Circuit.
Henderson said those with poor hearing should "be given the same opportunities that a hearing applicant would be given to show that they can perform the job of package-car driver safely and effectively."

The federal government bars the hearing impaired from operating trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds. UPS says hearing impaired drivers pose a safety risk.

As an attorney, I can effectively argue both sides of this question, but as a person, I am not sure which way I personally feel about the situation. I definitely do not want to see those able to do the job declined the opportunity to do so jes' 'cause they can't hear normally, but then, ag'in, the Federal Government must have done some study about the dangers of someone operatin' vehicles who lacked the ability to adequately hear prior to issuin' a bar against such people drivin' trucks weighin' over 5 tons. I jes' cannot really see that the weight of the vehicle is really much of a factor in the danger of the activity, 'cept that a 5 ton vehicle crashin' into a school likely does a bit more damage than say a 4.5 ton vehicle does when it crashes into that same buildin'. To me, the statistics showin' the greater likelihood of accidents cause by that one factor alone would be dispositive. If the evidence suggested that hearin' impaired truck drivers caused a substantially greater risk of bein' involved in accidents, then err on the side of caution. If there is no increase in substantial risk, then what are we all squawkin' 'bout? Feel free to put in your 2¢.

Source of quoted text.

Posted by Tiger at November 15, 2004 05:11 PM
Comments

Here's my 2 cents:

This is getting carried away. This is one step shy of someone suing a major airline for discriminating against the blind and not allowing them to become pilots. Or suing nightclubs for not letting epileptics handle the strobe lighting. Or a paraplegic in a tizzy because he can't become a firefighter.

I'm all for the disabled being able to work--but limits are still limits. If you can't hear an approaching ambulance or the frantic honking of an out-of-control semi, that's a limit. If your hearing aid runs out of batteries in the middle of rush hour, that's a limit. If you aren't able to converse with the people who you're supposed to be delivering packages because their heavy accent fubs your lip-reading skills, that's a limit.

--TwoDragons

Posted by: Denita TwoDragons at November 15, 2004 08:02 PM