ST. LOUIS — The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas has ruled that a UPS Ground Freight union contract policy of paying disabled drivers less than non-disabled drivers violates federal law.
According to a 2017 lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), under a UPS policy from a collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, drivers with disabilities who are reassigned to non-driving jobs for medical reasons are paid 10 percent less than those reassigned for non-medical reasons.
The court ruled that UPS' policy violated Title 1 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by "participating in a contractural relationship with the [union] that expressly discriminates against medically disabled UPS Freight drivers."
"The ADA is a powerful legal tool to protect workers from unlawful discrimination based on disability and the EEOC will vigorously challenge such discriminatory policies and practices," EEOC St. Louis District Office regional attorney Andrea Baran said in a statement. "It is also important that the court ruled UPS Freight's claim of simply following the terms of its union contract is no defense to violating the law."
"This will have an immediate impact on thousands of UPS Freight's drivers nationwide who are subject to the policy and union contract," added EEOC St. Louis senior trial attorney Grant Doty.