I am an Empolyer of Arby's Fastfood for the payrate of $6.85 for the last 8th months, When I Interviewed I was asked several questions about my ability with my hearing aids of what I can and can't do, I explained to them this is my first real job and knowing alittle bit about the fastfood process, that I would be able to do alot of things but have trouble with taking frontline orders from customers and doing drive-thru headsets taking orders and then the manager talked with me and told me that my asking payrate $7.00 wouldn't be possible at the point and they would pay me $6.85. so I okyed It and did my best at my job and everything so I could get my raised, well 8months comes by and at least 10 people has been hired at $7.00 and given a raised when they take drivethru orders and frontline orders, I've spoken to the manager and District manager and told them they need give me my raise and subitute them with something else, I work full time and travel to other Arby's when they're low on workers, and I still make $6.85.. I've tried applying at other jobs to get away from Arby's but no one is calling me back, plus I just got into a wreck on thursday night by an illegal immigrant so I now have no car and am screwed w/ him havin no insurance & being illegal... but if I fight this would the discrimnation passed? you think, please tell me Thanks
Andy,
You need to think back to your interview, because the answer to some questions will be very very important in determining whether you were discriminated against. When you said "when I Interviewed I was asked several questions about my ability with my hearing aids of what I can and can't do", how exactly did they ask the question? An employer is allowed to ask an applicant if they can do the essential tasks of a job, but they're not allowed to ask anything about a disability. So, if an employer is hiring people to lift boxes, and someone comes in to interview with no arms and legs, the employer can ask "Are you able to lift 50 pound boxes?", but not "You don't have arms and legs, surely you can't life 50 pound boxes, right?"
What's important is that:
1) The interview questions they ask must be ESSENTIAL to the job they're hiring for -- they can't ask you things that have little to do with the job, and they can't disqualify you for the position when reasonable accommodations could be made.
2) They cannot ask anything about your disability during the interview.
3) You must be able to prove that you have a disability (determined by a doctor).
4) You experienced some monetary loss based on your disability status.
If talking to customers is essential to the $7.00 job, and you cannot do this with any reasonable accommodation, they
may be able to pull this kind of stunt without any way for you to get around it. However, for 15 cents an hour, I bet they'd just pay the difference to keep things quiet if you push it.
In terms of item 4, you're probably not going to qualify for too much if you take it to the EEOC or a lawyer. You're talking about $.15 cents an hour difference, so it's not going to add up to too much. However, if the company has a track record of doing this kind of thing, the EEOC will sometimes go after a company harshly, so it may be worth talking to a mediator or lawyer briefly about it. Just don't get your hopes up -- the damage amount is probably so small that most lawyers won't even do it. It may not be worth the trouble, even if it's blatently discriminatory.
By the way, near where I live there's a deaf family that owns a small restaurant... they hire lots of deafies/HHs. Maybe you could find a place like that in your community!
