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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 29, 2006 Two Deaf Workers Denied Right to Apply for Jobs Settle Federal ADA Action Against Spherion Corporation Agreement Results in Revision of Corporate Policy Regarding Deaf Contact Informations: Lucy Wood (512) 538-8728 lwood@advocacyinc.org (Austin, Tex.) - Advocacy, Inc., a non-profit disability law firm that represents people with disabilities in civil actions, announced that an Austin recruiting, staffing and outsourcing agency will pay $78,300 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by two deaf individuals denied the opportunity to apply for manufacturing jobs. Spherion Corporation, which has not admitted liability, was alleged to have prevented the application of the deaf individuals Dorothea Huschka and Eric Madigan in order to avoid paying for sign language interpretation during their job training in the summer of 2003. The judge in Civil Action No. A-04-CA-632-LY, the Honorable Lee Yeakel of the United States District Court of the Western District of Texas, also approved significant policy revisions to Spherion corporate policy governing the treatment of deaf applicants and employees at its Austin location. The corporation has agreed to pay for the services of qualified sign language interpreters during deaf applicants' interviews and training, to train its staff on the ADA and on the reasonable accommodation of deaf applicants and employees, and to post employment opportunities in locations likely to be seen by deaf people looking for work. "This case sends a signal of hope and of justice to the many deaf people who struggle daily against barriers to employment and who want desperately to work," says Lucy Wood of Advocacy, Inc., the law firm that represented the deaf individuals. "We hope that the policies adopted by Spherion in this case will serve as a model for other corporations across the country and in the many different industries in which deaf people seek to work and to advance their careers." read Consent Decree ###

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