Cheesecake Factory to pay $15,000 to fired deaf dishwasher in Seattle

SEATTLE (AP) — The Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain has agreed to pay $15,000 to settle a federal complaint that it failed to provide a sign language interpreter or other accommodations for a deaf part-time dishwasher at its downtown Seattle location.

Under the settlement, announced Thursday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based chain will provide closed captioning for the training and orientation videos that are required viewing for new hires.

The dishwasher, Oleg Ivanov, will receive the $15,000 in back pay and damages.

The EEOC said Ivanov was hired in 2014, but managers showed him training videos that lacked closed captioning. As a result, Ivanov didn't learn that he should frequently check his work schedule because it could change with little notice.

The agency said he was fired for missing a shift, and he wasn't provided an interpreter in disciplinary meetings.