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A 26-year-old woman has won a $180,000 settlement after suing a Minnesota hospital for denying her a job because she is deaf.
Kaylah Vogt entered a consent decree in the US District Court in Minneapolis on Thursday. It means that North Memorial Health did not admit wrongdoing, but agreed to take the payment and other actions addressed in the lawsuit.
Vogt claimed she had applied to be a receptionist at the health care system hospital in Robbinsdale but, despite being qualified, was denied the job because pandemic masking rules meant she would have difficulty reading lips while working.
Since then, he has founded Healing Signs, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide mental health services for deaf and hard of hearing people after multiple disappointing job search experiences.
Kaylah Vogt, 26, has settled a federal lawsuit and received a $180,000 payment from a Minnesota hospital that she says denied her a job as a receptionist because she is deaf.
Vogt is a student in the College of Professional and Continuing Studies at the University of Minnesota, and was featured in a university paper in August 2021where she recalled her experience with North Memorial Health and her belief that she had been hired.
“After identifying myself as deaf and requesting a reasonable accommodation, I was instantly fired without any attempt to work with me,” she said.
“Ultimately, it affected my career choices and how I function in the world.”
Gregory Gochanour, Chicago regional attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), who filed the lawsuit on Vogt’s behalf, told the star tribune discrimination is sadly common.
“Unfortunately, some employers continue to discriminate against deaf applicants based on myths, fears and stereotypes about their ability to perform the job because of their disability,” he said.
Julianne Bowman, EEOC Chicago district director, said the consent decree is expected to be the first step toward change.
“The training consent decree requirement for managers and supervisors involved in hiring decisions on anti-discrimination provisions is critical to eliminating discrimination against disabled applicants,” he said.
The 26-year-old claimed she had applied to be a hospital receptionist at North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale, but despite being qualified, she was denied the job due to pandemic masking rules.
North Memorial denied the allegations, but highlighted in the court filing the challenges greeters were facing at the time due to the pandemic and the need for “strong listening and verbal communication skills when interacting with people experiencing stress/grief.” Its CEO, Dr. J. Kevin Croston, pictured
In July 2020, Vogt applied through a recruitment company to be a receptionist, but North Memorial chose another path despite being qualified to do the job and carry out its essential functions, including: ‘Receiving visitors, apply COVID-19 masking standards and policies, giving directions and keeping the area tidy and welcoming.’
The lawsuit also noted that Vogt wears hearing aids that allow him to “hear people talk without any difficulty.” Vogt can communicate verbally [and] You can also communicate with American Sign Language.’
North Memorial denied the allegations, but highlighted in the court filing the challenges greeters were facing at the time due to the pandemic and the need for “strong listening and verbal communication skills when interacting with people experiencing stress/grief.”
The presentation stated that greeters “needed to communicate quickly and succinctly with visitors regarding visitor policy, assess visitor comprehension and compliance, and troubleshoot.” [while] communication was significantly hampered by the COVID required face masks.
North Memorial said in a statement: “We recognize that our [hiring] The processes in place for temporary roles may have been compromised during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we understand Ms. Vogt’s disappointment in the decisions that were made at that time.
“We have reviewed specific practices in the aftermath of this case and will continue to strive to ensure that our customers, current, past and future team members, and vendors feel valued and respected.”
Vogt has since founded Healing Signs, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide mental health services for deaf and hard-of-hearing people after multiple disappointing job-hunting experiences.
Gregory Gochanour, Chicago regional attorney for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), who sued on Vogt’s behalf, said discrimination is woefully common.
Julianne Bowman, EEOC Chicago district director, said the consent decree is expected to be the first step toward change.
Among the requirements of the consent decree, which runs for two years, North Memorial must: ‘Apply its reasonable accommodation and disability non-discrimination policies to all applicants and employees hired to work for North Memorial Health, whether or not they are hired directly by North Memorial. or through a staffing company.
You are also required to: ‘Provide reasonable accommodations, unless doing so would result in undue hardship to the health care system or a direct threat, file with the EEOC any complaint reports of failure to hire or failure to accommodate based on a disability, and provide training to employees involved in the recruitment process.’
The $180,000 payment covers $75,000 in compensatory damages, about $44,000 in back payments, and about $61,000 to cover his attorney’s fees.
Vogt is no stranger to discrimination, describing in the 2021 article with the University of Minnesota that he was “denied his first real job at a pharmacy because he couldn’t answer the phones.”
“Looking back, I realized it was a case of unlawful discrimination, because a reasonable accommodation could have been made,” he said at the time.
Eventually, she was hired by a different manager, but was discouraged from becoming a pharmacy technician.
“Their training videos had no subtitles and they threw me out without enough training,” he said.
Kaylah worked for five different companies after that and when the pandemic hit, she applied for an entry-level position at North Memorial Health.
In 2021, Vogt also took to YouTube to share her disheartening experience with #23andme, a genetics company, who wanted to share her story during Deaf Awareness Month, but refused to let her tell it in ASL.
Vogt is no stranger to the discrimination he describes in the 2021 article with the University of Minnesota being “denied his first real job at a pharmacy because he couldn’t answer the phones.”
In 2021 Vogt also led Youtube to share her disheartening experience with #23andme, a genetics company, who wanted to share her story during Deaf Awareness Month, but refused to let her tell her story in ASL.
“I wanted to know why I am deaf, so I took a DNA test with 23andMe and found out that my deafness was genetic,” she said.
‘I decided to submit my story to 23andMe to share that my deafness is genetic and how I can experience the gift of sign language – American Sign Language.
‘They contacted me and said they loved my story ‘it’s so powerful’ and they want to feature me for Deaf Awareness Month.
‘I responded, said ‘yes let’s do it’ and let them know I wanted to do my story in ASL because that’s what my story is about: ASL.
But Vogt claimed that 23andMe rejected his request.
‘I was not allowed to share my story in ASL because it doesn’t fit the context. So, I decided to take the story into my own hands,” she said of posting the video on YouTube.
According to the United States Census Bureau about 11.5 million Americans have “some type of hearing impairment, ranging from difficulty hearing a conversation to total hearing loss.”
“That’s about 3.5 percent of the population,” the website reads.
“In addition, about 50 million of our population experience some level of tinnitus, a constant ringing in the ears.”