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The Justice Department has reached a settlement agreement with the city of Parowan following an investigation into the city's online employment applications, which asked questions about disabilities in violation of Title I of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
The settlement was announced in a news release from the DOJ on Tuesday. Parowan was one of three cities investigated for violations, according to the release. Española and Ruidoso, N.M., reached similar settlements, the DOJ said.
The ADA prohibits employers from asking whether an applicant is a person with a disability, or inquire about the specifics of a disability until after offering employment.
In addition to the application violation, DOJ investigators also found that Parowan's online job listings and applications were not fully accessible to those with disabilities, including those who are blind or with low vision, the deaf or hard of hearing, or those with manual dexterity challenges that might limit their ability to use a computer mouse.
City Manager Shane Scott said a DOJ investigator contacted Parowan officials about two years ago with concerns about an application for a police officer position that asked whether applicants were blind, color blind or had other visual impairments. DOJ would not say whether the concern had been generated by a specific complaint, he said.
"In [the city's] defense, the application was very old and probably outdated. I don't think it had been touched since the 1980s," he said. "We don't hire a lot here."
The city now uses the Utah Job Bank through the state's Department of Workforce Services for job listing and applications — a change that was already under way when DOJ contacted the city, Scott said.
The settlement agreement, which was reached with the DOJ in March, includes no fines, only administrative changes, he said.
According to the DOJ, under the settlement, Parowan has agreed to amend its hiring policies and procedures to ensure the city does not discriminate against job applicants on the basis of disability.
Those terms include not conducting or requiring medical examinations or making disability-related inquiries of applicants before a job is offered or unless such an inquiry is job-related; maintaining medical or disability-related records in separate, confidential files; training employees on ADA compliance and reporting requirements; and ensuring that online applications meet the ADA's current Web content accessibility guidelines.
Scott said ADA training for city staff is scheduled for May 18.