Jobs for Deaf - Employment Discrimination and Deafness

Job Searching Frustrations of Deaf/HOH

From the time deaf and hard of hearing children are young, they are told that it is a "hearing" world. And it is hearing people who do most of the hiring in the working world when deaf and hard of hearing people search for jobs.

Deaf Job Searchers Try to Hide It

I am aware that to improve their chances of finding employment, some deaf and hard of hearing job searchers tailor their resumes to hide the fact they have a hearing loss. There is no way I can hide it on mine. It would take someone with the brains of a gnat to not be able to figure it out from my resume.

Personal Job Search Frustrations

I have experienced suspected job searching discrimination. When I finished my second degree at Gallaudet University in December 1996, I had an interview at a company that called me back for a "second" interview.

The "second" interview wasn't really an interview at all - they introduced me to some people who worked at the company. Those people were clearly uncomfortable communicating with a deaf person, and an interpreter was not provided. Needless to say, I did not get the job. Eventually I realized I had to have interpreting services for the job search, and hooked up with Vocational Rehabilitation for that purpose.

Relay Services and Deaf Job Searchers

In addition, there have been companies that called the voice number on my resume, and then after discovering I was deaf and/or experiencing a relay service call, did not call again. I have lost some really good jobs as a deaf job searcher because of this. Plus, there have been times when companies said they would call but they did not. (Of course I can't be sure that all of this was because of my being deaf, but I think some suspicion is reasonable.)

Today deaf people have other options available to them; they can use personal relay phone numbers such as the My IP Relay Number (www.ip-relay.com). This number is a real voice number and employers who see it on a resume do not know that the applicant is deaf/hoh until they call. This avoids "giving away" the fact the applicant is deaf through having a TTY number and relay number on the resume because the deaf applicant can list the personal relay phone number instead. Most importantly, deaf applicants can have immediate communication with the employer calling.

CSDVRS also offers a personal 800 number. This personal 800 number enables the video relay interpreter to immediately connect to the deaf person's videophone or webcam. This number can also be put on resumes.

There has been discussion in the past on the internet that some employers apparently view deaf/hoh people as "walking interpreter bills." I put out a call in this site's newsletter, About Deafness , for other deaf and hard of hearing people to share their stories of suspected job search discrimination. Some people responded, as seen below:

Even VR Couldn't Get Me a Job

"When I was 24 I lost my hearing (all in one ear and I need an aid in the other). At 28 I went to College to take two years of Word Processing. After I graduated, (I was hooked up with the program DORS Department of Rehabilitation Services.) They told me to hand out a paper that stated to a prospective employer that DORS would reimburse them for four weeks of wages if after that time I did not work out for them. I was NOT taken up on that offer by a single interviewer. But how can you say it's discrimination? It might have been that I didn't type fast enough or my nylons had a run or some such thing! Who knows? But yes, it was very frustrating! Before my cancer, stroke and subsequent hearing loss, I never had a problem getting a job that I applied for!"

Deaf Employee Has Difficulty Getting Transferred

My girlfriend is profoundly deaf and both of us work at [a well-known chain]. She has worked in a sales department before, assisting customers. After working in the computer room and then as a cashier, she wanted to transfer into the garden department. She had to take a computer based test to move from cashier to a department. She, of course, did not pass cuz the questions were directed towards hearing people. I am hearing, and would have no problem answering the questions. but if she recieved questions such as "if you are helping a customer, others are waiting, and then your phone rings, which do you take care of first?" First of all, she can't understand voices even with her hearing aid, so she won't be on the phone. as far as the multiple customers, it is impossible to read 2 people's lips at the same time. so since most of those questions were like that, she failed. After telling me about it, i insisted that she speak to the one manager demanding a retest with fair questions.

This is in no way saying that the [well-known chain] is an unfair company to work for, but their "job preference program" needs to be redone to accomodate their deaf associates.

Deaf Job Searcher Loses to Hearing Job Searcher

This is a story which happened to a friend of mine. He is hard-of-hearing and uses strong PSE. He had applied for a job working with young deaf children in a mainstream progam through our local [school district]. There were 2 positions vacant and 3 people applied. They had him show up for an interview and had him spend a day with the student in class. After that, he was never called back. The [district] ended up hiring the other two people (hearing), one had minimal signing skills and the other was a house-wife from the local community who never even knew how to sign! Eventually, the [district] realized she wasn't going to work out, so they fired her just before her probation time was up (90 days according to the Union rules).

All during this lady's time of hire, my friend went and made sure he was "hire-worthy".

He checked to see if there was some kind of "glitch" in his application process. None was found. The [district] still had the position posted...they never called him back. Three quarters of the way through the school year... a CODA finally applied and got the job.

Deafblind Professional's Frustration

I am deafblind and a computer professional.

I was laid off from the job due to office restruction. Since the last day, I have been faxing and emailng my resumes to recruiters and now am taking computer classes to upgrade my skills. At the beginning, I used the relay number along with my phone number on the resumes and I didn't receive any phone calls. Then I left out the phone number and replaced with my email addresses. I got many good results from the recruiters asking me to call them using their phone numbers. Sometimes, I would disclose myself that I'm hearing impaired and using the relay operators. So many times, I heard nothing from them after the calls. Very few times, the recruiters would email me with list of questions. One time there was a job opening for a help desk analyst and I had a very good talk with the recruiter and at the end all of a sudden this job required managerial experience.

It seems that many recruiters first probably realize that I use the relay operators regardless I mentioned of my deafness or not and they usually screened me out and overlooked things I have pretty good computer skills and work history. I am continuing looking for job openings over the internet. My favorite job search is www.monster.com because I got many replies from the recruiters and I had a few job interviews. My job counselor has excellent job networking with companies and government agenies.

Operations Manager Can't Get Promotion

My husband who is deaf has been an Operations Manager for 7 years with a company that teaches vocational training for the disabled. He does not have a degree but has been a very loyal employee and is willing to do everything they throw at him. A certain position became open on three seperate occassions all of which he applied for. His boss told him that he was not qualified. This, despite his 7 years with the company and the fact that she herself had just been promoted without a degree. They ended up filing the position with a staff less qualified than my husband. They later had to let her go only to fill the position with another applicant that was eventually let go. We thought by this time he would be a shoe in. Of course this did not happen and they went with a staff from another office that was looking to transfer closer to home. During his search outside of his current company, I received a call from a perspective employer via the relay service, I answerd for him and as him and was surprised when she told me (under the assumption she was speaking with my husband)I wasn't what they were looking for. I was angered and asked "Didn't you look at my resume before you called?" She responded yes, and I then questioned why, if after seeing my qualificatins on my resume would you call me if I wasn't qualified. What had changed." Her only response was that she was just calling to check. He is still at the same company but still seeking other opportunities including furthering his education.

Viewed as Stupid?

I feel that I am being disciminated at work since I am the only one with a hearing loss in both ears ....as soon as I told people that I have a hearing loss is when they started looking at me like I was stupid, quit paying attention to me and do not take me seriously .... I see more and more how this world is so cruel . I am now looking into finding a job where ... people are not perfect. I would rather work with people that have disabilities and that know they are not perfect then work with people that are so high up there perfection.... not all the people are like that but I find that most of them are .... Is anybody else in this same boat ?

Also, there have been lawsuits and complaints filed by deaf and hard of hearing job searchers against companies that they claim did not hire them or give them a fair chance at jobs:

• In June 1999 deaf job searchers who tried to get jobs at AOL, filed a complaint.
• Wal-Mart Settles Employment Discrimination Claim of Two Applicants Who Are Deaf - This is an archived Equal Employment Opportunity Commission press release from January 2000 about what happened to deaf job searchers who tried to get jobs at Wal-Mart.

Stymied by Blatant Discrimination

I had assumed that having a Master's degree in xxxxx and passing xxx exam would impress any employer when I graduated from the university.

I had applied to many places where the Master's degree and xxx were required for the position. I knew I had met all the requirements. I had sent out the resumes, cover letters and applications. I made sure all my resumes, cover letters and applications had no mistakes before I sent them out. There was no one job interview in 7 months!

I decided to call different people and asked them what was wrong with my resumes, applications, etc.. Their responses were that they had already filled in the position months ago. I was suspicious that they decided to discriminate against me because I put down TTD/Voice number and Relay number on all of my resumes and applications. After investigating the newly hired employees, I was stunned that all of them were hearing, couldnt sign well and knew very little about Deaf culture. I was furious but I kept on searching until someone opened the door and gave me the chance. Finally, I was hired. Several months, I met a woman at the conference and knew her because I applied for the position at her company a year before. I decided to walk up to her and ask her flatly about why she didnt want to interview me at all. She admitted that she wanted a hearing person! I became furious at her ignorance about deafness. This woman should not be allowed to work with people with disabilities with that kind of thinking she had! Anyway, I interrupted her and said, "Hearing!!! That's what I thought!" She didn't say any more. She knew she was wrong. I decided to think in another positive way. I figured I should be glad not to work for that woman because she would not be a good employer! That kept me going. I am still working at this place where the opportunity is given to me, and I am going to give this agency my 100 percent best!

Are you deaf or hard of hearing and have you experienced suspected discrimination in the hiring process? Send your stories to your guide for inclusion in future revisions of this article.

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I checked on the Internet and it opened a window, typing "Jobs" on search engine in awhile I am frustrated looking all the world wide webs, and I decided to typing "Deaf Jobs in Las Vegas" or not. I noticed a link 'Jobs for Deaf - Employment Discrimination and Deafness', click it and I entered the page to read all the article. I did applied different jobs at the sites. I have no luck finding a job when I suspected discrimination in the hiring process from Toy World near the casinos by downtown Las Vegas Boulevard. The lady didn't email back to me, because I told her that I am deaf which I interested in it, but there's no choice to get a better job myself. I stubbornly applying any jobs at the stupid websites.

- Braz