A client recently received a request from a salesperson who suffers from depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The employee said that certain customers acted in ways that triggered her symptoms, and she...more
In recent years, federal courts have increasingly been called upon to decide whether employers must provide accommodations relating to disabled employees’ commutes to and from work. The EEOC and some federal courts have...more
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, plaintiffs have the burden of demonstrating they have a disability that results in a significant impairment of a major life activity. Since adoption of the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA)...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations that permit a disabled employee to perform the essential functions of his or her job. What happens, however, when an employer...more
As previously chronicled in EmployNews, a small but growing number of states that have legalized medical marijuana use have recognized employees’ rights not to be subject to adverse treatment by their employers due to such...more
10/19/2018
/ Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Preemption ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws
Recent news stories have highlighted situations where airline passengers and other users of public accommodations have insisted on bringing a veritable menagerie of animals with them, on the basis that they provide emotional...more
Ten years ago, Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA). The law was intended to address what legislators believed was courts’ overly strict reading of the definition of disability under the Americans with Disabilities...more
In addition to OSHA rules, many safety-sensitive businesses use ANSI or other standards organizations’ guidelines to develop their safety programs. Earlier this month, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of...more
On occasion, we read case reports that make us wonder why an employer litigates a claim that appears to be based on rigid adherence to work rules that do not make a whole lot of sense. A recent example is a decision from the...more
Employees seeking accommodations for medical conditions under the Americans with Disabilities Act often request modified work schedules. In some cases, the employee presents medical information indicating an ability only to...more
Employees and their medical providers continue to come up with creative requests for accommodation of medical conditions under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Last month in an unpublished decision, the Sixth Circuit...more
A new unpublished opinion from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reminds employers that their obligation to provide disabled persons with reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act does not limit...more
Last month, Governor Henry McMaster signed into law the South Carolina Pregnancy Accommodations Act. The law, which is the first such measure passed in the South, is intended to protect and assist working women through...more
We typically avoid reporting on cases that involve procedural issues primarily of interest to trial lawyers. However, once in a while, a procedural decision can have significant impacts on how employers structure their human...more
In practice, employers have little difficulty accommodating most requests for accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If an employee requests a standing desk or short breaks to monitor blood glucose,...more
When a current employee develops a disabling medical condition, employers are frequently faced with Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation requests that would fundamentally alter the way that the job has been...more
Last year, we reported a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals decision establishing a rule that leave of more than a few weeks in duration falls outside employers’ reasonable accommodation obligations under the Americans with...more
4/13/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Failure to Accommodate ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Medical Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Undue Hardship ,
Wrongful Termination
Some employers use a formal or informal system that allows employees to donate accrued leave time to one another, usually in the context of a serious personal or medical problem. In a recent unpublished decision, the Tenth...more
As technology changes, courts have increasingly accepted disabled employees’ arguments that they can remotely perform the essential functions of their jobs. Therefore, telecommuting may be recognized as a form of required...more
Title VII requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees’ religious beliefs and practices. While this accommodation obligation may not be as high as that imposed for disabilities under the ADA, a recent...more
Employers understand their obligation to engage in an interactive process to address accommodation requests made by disabled employees. How long does the employer have to reach a conclusion with regard to the accommodation...more
2/1/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Ford Motor ,
Interactive Process ,
Military Service Members ,
PTSD ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Veterans
From time to time, health care employers find themselves faced with employees who refuse to take mandatory vaccines intended to protect themselves and their patients from exposure to infectious diseases. Sometimes these...more
Despite the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s more nuanced position, federal courts have generally rejected attempts by plaintiffs to claim that an indefinite leave of absence is a required reasonable accommodation...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with medical disabilities. The ADA also prohibits employers from disclosing information about an employee’s medical...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act does not require employers to always allow disabled people to return to the job. In order to claim protection under the law, the disabled employee must show that he or she can perform the...more