8th Circuit Upholds Verdict Against Nebraska Trucking Company in ADA Violation Case

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and against Omaha, Nebraska-based Werner Trucking on July 10, the EEOC announced last week.

The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged Werner violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it refused to hire a qualified deaf truck driver because he was deaf. In September 2023, a Nebraska jury agreed and awarded $75,000 in compensatory damages and $36 million in punitive damages. The U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska entered judgment in favor of EEOC, reducing the jury’s award to the statutory cap of $300,000 and awarding back pay and prejudgment interest. The district court also ordered injunctive relief requiring Werner to report certain information about deaf applicants to the EEOC.

Werner appealed to the circuit court, arguing the district court erred by: granting a directed verdict on the issue of causation; granting summary judgment in EEOC’s favor on certain affirmative defenses; making several adverse evidentiary rulings against Werner; denying Werner’s motions for judgment as a matter of law; granting injunctive relief, and awarding prejudgment interest.

The appellate court’s thorough opinion systematically analyzed each point the company raised on appeal. “[D]iscerning no error,” the court’s three-judge panel unanimously affirmed the judgment in its totality.

The appellate decision caps almost seven years of litigation. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Drivers Mgmt, LLC and Werner Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 8:18-cv-00462) in U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska in 2018. As in all EEOC cases, the agency first attempted to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Topics Trucking