Missouri Commission on Human Rights v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.

LOWENSTEIN, Judge.

This appeal concerns handicap discrimination in its hiring practices by Southwestern Bell (Bell) as against the claimant Shirley Hodges. See §§ 296.010 — 296.070, RSMo, 1978. As described infra, “handicap,” as applicable here means a physical impairment resulting in a disability unrelated to job duties. In April, 1979, Hodges applied for the position of clerk/typist at Southwestern Bell and received an offer of employment conditioned on her “pre-placement medical evaluation form” being satisfactory. Hodges checked off twelve medical conditions including most recently that…