Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. United Parcel Service, Inc.

**UPS Vision Requirements Ruled Discriminatory** The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued United Parcel Service (UPS) over the company's vision requirements for drivers. UPS had a policy that automatically disqualified people who were blind in one eye (monocular vision) from driving positions, regardless of their actual driving ability or safety record. The district court found that UPS's blanket vision policy violated disability discrimination laws. The judge ordered UPS to change its hiring practices and consider each person's individual qualifications rather than automatically rejecting all monocular applicants. When UPS appealed, the appeals court largely agreed with the lower court's decision but sent part of the case back for further review on how to properly evaluate whether monocular vision counts as a disability under federal law. This case matters because it shows that employers cannot use broad, automatic disqualifications based on disabilities when making hiring decisions. Instead, companies must look at each person's actual ability to do the job safely. Workers with disabilities have the right to be evaluated fairly based on their individual skills and qualifications, not blanket assumptions about their conditions.