Eric Bates

One of the named plaintiffs in the suit, Eric Bates, has twice completed the company's driver certification process and met both state and federal qualifications -- and has satisfied even stricter DOT requirements for large trucks.Yet UPS, he says, has repeatedly denied him an opportunity to drive any of its delivery vehicles.

One of the named plaintiffs in the suit, Eric Bates, has twice completed the company's driver certification process and met both state and federal qualifications -- and has satisfied even stricter DOT requirements for large trucks.Yet UPS, he says, has repeatedly denied him an opportunity to drive any of its delivery vehicles.

Eric Bates finally got his promotion to delivery driver with United Parcel Service Inc., and he's proud of it.

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Eric Bates finally got his promotion to delivery driver with United Parcel Service Inc., and he's proud of it.

It took Bates, who is 30 and nearly deaf, five years to make his way out of the Sunnyvale loading docks.He was promoted, he says, thanks to a lawsuit he filed claiming the nation's fourth-largest private employer rampantly discriminates against the hearing impaired in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.

His case mushroomed into class-action litigation, and on Tuesday a trial began for more than 900 current and former employees nationwide claiming they were either passed over for promotions or were given inadequate training and safety instructions -- all because they were hearing impaired.

"Every morning, when I wake up and put on my brown uniform, I'm proud that I can drive because I thought that it might never happen," the Fremont man said in an interview via a sign-language interpreter.

Lawyers for the Atlanta-based package delivery company deny that UPS discriminates against those with hearing disabilities.

NEW YORK

Eric Bates finally got his promotion to delivery driver with United Parcel Service, and he's proud of it.It took Bates, who is 30 and nearly deaf, five years to make his way out of the Sunnyvale loading docks.He was promoted, he says, thanks to a lawsuit he filed claiming that the nation's fourth-largest private employer rampantly discriminates against the hearing impaired in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws.Trial Begins in Bias Suit by Deaf U.P.S. Workers