United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Rockwell International Corp.

# EEOC v. Rockwell International Corp. - Case Summary **What Happened** The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Rockwell International Corporation, claiming the company discriminated against 72 job applicants by refusing to hire them based on disabilities. The EEOC argued that Rockwell failed to reasonably accommodate these applicants as required by disability rights law. **What the Court Decided** The court sided with Rockwell International and dismissed the case. The judge found that the EEOC did not prove Rockwell actually viewed these applicants as having significant disabilities that limited their ability to work. The court also rejected the EEOC's expert witness testimony about the applicants' job prospects, deciding the testimony was not reliable enough to consider. **Why This Matters for Workers** This ruling sets a high bar for proving disability discrimination. Under this decision, simply being rejected for a job is not enough—workers must show that employers specifically viewed them as substantially disabled. Additionally, courts can reject expert opinions that support workers' discrimination claims if they determine the testimony doesn't meet certain standards, making these cases harder to win.