Questions and Answers about Deafness and Hearing Impairments in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act

Before an Offer of Employment Is Made

2. May an employer ask a job applicant whether he has or had a hearing impairment or about his treatment related to any hearing impairment prior to making a job offer? 

No. An employer may not ask questions about an applicant's medical condition[19] or require an applicant to have a medical examination before it makes a conditional job offer. This means that an employer cannot legally ask an applicant such questions as:

• whether she has ever had any medical procedures related to her hearing (for example, whether the applicant has a cochlear implant);

• whether she uses a hearing aid; or

• whether she has any condition that may have caused hearing impairment.

Of course, an employer may ask questions pertaining to the applicant's ability to perform the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation, such as:

• whether the applicant can respond quickly to instructions in a noisy, fast-paced work environment

• whether the applicant has good communication skills

• whether the applicant can meet legally mandated safety standards required to perform a job.

[19] Federal contractors are required under 41 C.F.R. § 60-741.42, a regulation issued by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), to invite applicants to voluntarily self-identify as persons with disabilities for affirmative action purposes. The ADA prohibition on asking applicants about medical conditions at the pre-offer stage does not prevent federal contractors from complying with the OFCCP's regulation. See Letter from Peggy R. Mastroianni, EEOC Legal Counsel, to Patricia A. Shiu, Director of OFCCP, www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/section503.htm#bottom.   

3. Does the ADA require an applicant to disclose that she has or had a hearing impairment or some other disability before accepting a job offer?

No.  The ADA does not require applicants to disclose that they have or had a hearing impairment or another disability unless they will need a reasonable accommodation for the application process (for example, a sign language interpreter). Some individuals with a hearing impairment, however, choose to disclose or discuss their condition to dispel myths about hearing loss or to ensure that employers do not assume that the impairment means the person is unable to do the job.

Sometimes, the decision to disclose depends on whether an individual will need a reasonable accommodation to perform the job (for example, specialized equipment, removal of a marginal function, or another type of job restructuring). A person with a hearing impairment, however, may request an accommodation after becoming an employee even if she did not do so when applying for the job or after receiving the job offer.

4. May an employer ask questions about an obvious hearing impairment, or ask follow-up questions if an applicant discloses a non-obvious hearing impairment?

No. An employer generally may not ask an applicant about obvious impairments. Nor may an employer ask an applicant who has voluntarily disclosed that he has a hearing impairment any questions about the nature of the impairment, when it began, or how the individual copes with the impairment. However, if an applicant has an obvious impairment or has voluntarily disclosed the existence of a hearing impairment and the employer reasonably believes that he will require an accommodation to perform the job because of the impairment, the employer may ask whether the applicant will need an accommodation and what type. The employer must keep any information an applicant discloses about his medical condition confidential. (See "Keeping Medical Information Confidential.")

Example 1: Julie has a severe hearing impairment in her right ear and is applying to the telephone sales department of a large clothing company. Julie tells the employer of her hearing impairment during the interview. The employer's sales associates currently wear headsets with earpieces for the right ear. The employer may ask Julie during her interview if she would need a left-sided headset as an accommodation.