On December 8th, a U.S. District judge ruled that S&B Industry Inc. was at least a prospective joint employer of two deaf job applicants the company allegedly discriminated against. S&B is a Texas-based mobile phone testing company that is being sued by the EEOC for not hiring deaf temporary workers from a staffing agency. The EEOC claims the company did not provide an interpreter during their job interviews, and then failed to reasonably accommodate the applicants in possible work they could do, choosing instead not to hire the applicants. S&B argues that jobs involving testing the volume capability of smartphones would be impossible for individuals with hearing impairments to complete.
See "Staffing Agency Client May Be Liable for Not Hiring Deaf Temps", Patrick Dorrian, Bloomberg BNA, December 13, 2016