The New York Police Department's ban on hearing aids for officers is forcing out several veteran sergeants, who are challenging a policy the department began enforcing in 2009.
At that time, the department began enforcing a ban on hearing devices. The NYPD is no longer hiring applicants who can't pass a basic hearing test. Older officers were forced to retire and younger officers were asked to remove the devices.
Two of those forced to retire filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, contending that the policy forbidding hearing aids is discriminatory toward those with hearing loss, according to the officers' lawyer, Colleen M. Meenan.
The former officers, Daniel Carione, 44, and Jim Phillips, 40, also contend that the policy serves as a deterrent to officers who otherwise might report their hearing loss.
Source: New York Times
