A truck driver is suing his former employers for alleged disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, harassment, and retaliation. Rolando Basto filed the complaint against Super Ego Holding, LLC, and Floyd, Inc. d/b/a Floyd Logistics in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on September 17, 2024.
According to the lawsuit, Basto was hired as a truck driver by the defendants on July 11, 2024. Despite successfully completing a medical exam that cleared him for the position, Basto alleges he was terminated due to his hearing aid. The complaint states that upon arriving at his new job in Illinois from California, Basto's hearing aid was visible to staff members including a recruiter named Sofia. Sofia allegedly told Basto he could not work because of his hearing aid. The plaintiff asserts that this action violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which mandates reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities.
Basto claims that he requested to use his hearing aid as an accommodation for his hearing loss but was denied without any interactive process from the defendants to determine appropriate accommodations. He further alleges that this refusal created a hostile work environment and amounted to disability-based harassment. "Plaintiff was treated less favorably than similarly situated non-disabled employees," reads the complaint, emphasizing that non-disabled employees were not prohibited from working based on medical devices or impairments.
The plaintiff also accuses the defendants of retaliating against him for seeking reasonable accommodation and opposing their discriminatory practices. He argues that his termination on July 11, 2024—the same day he started—was unlawful and based solely on his disability or perceived disability due to his hearing aid.
Basto is seeking various forms of relief from the court including back pay with interest, front pay, compensatory and punitive damages, loss of benefits, attorneys' fees and costs, pre-judgment interest if applicable, and any other relief deemed just and proper by the court.
The case is being handled by Chad W. Eisenback of Sulaiman Law Group Ltd., while it will be presided over by judges assigned under Case ID: 1:24-cv-08512.