A federal judge ruled a mobile phone repair and testing facility in Texas must face trial on claims by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that it illegally failed to hire or accommodate two deaf applicants for temporary work referred by a staffing agency. Bloomberg BNA reports the decision is one step toward a potential victory for the EEOC in its continuing crackdown on businesses it believes hire temporary workers through staffing agencies to evade federal employment discrimination laws. The US District Court of the Northern District of Texas found Dec. 8 that S&B Industry Inc., doing business as Fox Conn S&B, may have been the prospective “employer” of the rejected job applicants under the Americans with Disabilities Act, or at least their prospective “joint employer” with the staffing agency. A jury could find that S&B had control over the employment relationship it formed with temporary workers.