Walmart has agreed to pay $230,000 and provide other relief to settle a disability employment discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. federal agency announced.
According to the EEOC lawsuit, a deaf applicant applied online for a stocking position at a Walmart in Decatur, Illinois. When a Walmart employee screening applicants contacted him to schedule an interview, the deaf applicant requested an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter.
The Walmart screener said she would try to find a translator but did not follow up, even after he called again to check on the status of the interview. Instead, three other hearing applicants were hired for inventory positions around the same time, and Walmart never contacted the deaf applicant again.
The company’s alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois (EEOC v. Walmart Stores, Inc. and Walmart Stores East, LP, Civil Action No. 21-cv-02080) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the administrative mediation process.
The district court denied Walmart’s motion for summary judgment, and the case is scheduled to be heard in June 2026.
In addition to monetary relief, the consent order resolving the lawsuit stipulates that Walmart in Decatur is prohibited from providing reasonable accommodations to the applicants in the future. The Decatur store must post a contact list for ASL interpreters in-store, and those involved in the hiring process at the Decatur store must receive training on how to accommodate deaf applicants and employees.
Source: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
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