A former library employee is suing Dixie College in St. George, Utah, for refusing to make reasonable accommodations for her hearing impairment.
Jacqueline Lewis filed the suit in U.S. District Court under the Americans with Disabilities Act in early October, the Salt Lake City Deseret News reported October 14. Lewis, who was diagnosed with a hearing loss prior to her employment, worked at the library from July 1991 to June 1999; when the library building was expanded in 1995, the additional noise from the larger facility aggravated her condition.
The suit claims coworkers, supervisors, and others harassed Lewis after she raised concerns about her disability requiring her to be scheduled when the library was less busy. Her attorney said although there was not an actual termination by the college, Lewis was “constructively discharged” in that she couldn’t work under those conditions.
Calling the suit inconsequential, a spokesman for the college said the school had “no official comment” on the case.
Posted October 23, 2000.