“You Want More Time Off?” – Dealing with Employees’ Medical Leave Requests Under the FMLA and ADA
Just this month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that even temporary health conditions without long-term effects may qualify as disabilities protected by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While this...more
In recent years, federal courts have increasingly split over whether obesity in and of itself is a qualifying medical condition under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The EEOC and some courts have concluded that obesity...more
Joining the other federal appellate panels to consider the issue, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAAA) did not alter or erode the understanding that...more
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) substantially lowered the bar for plaintiffs to demonstrate a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, on occasion we still see federal courts reject ADA...more
The Sixth Circuit’s ruling in Tinsley v. Caterpillar Fin. Servs., Corp., No. 18-5303 (6th Cir. Mar. 20, 2019) is a good reminder that not all impairments rise to the level of a “disability” within the meaning of the Americans...more
We know that the ADAAA (Amendments Act of 2008) substantially altered the landscape for review of claims asserting a disability. But are employees still required to show some sort of disorder or impairment to state a claim?...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
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
Under the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (“ADAAA”), an individual meets the requirement of being “regarded as” having a disability, and thus is protected from discrimination, where his or her employer believes that he or she is...more
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) made a number of significant changes to the definition of “disability.” Much of the change had to do with making it easier for an individual to establish that he or she has a disability...more
As many employers know, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) broadened the scope of who may be considered disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Indeed, through the ADAAA, Congress sought to make it...more
In 2009, Congress passed the Americans With Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAAA), unquestionably expanding the definition of a disability under the ADA and, for all practical purposes in most cases, shifting the focus of...more
Obesity does not meet the definition of a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for either the discrimination or “regarded as” provisions of the statute, a panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals...more
Since the Americans with Disabilities Act was adopted, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has considered morbid obesity to fall within the definition of a protected disability. Earlier this month, the Eighth Circuit...more
The ADA prohibits discrimination based upon actual or perceived medical disabilities and requires employers to accommodate employees with disabilities subject to certain exceptions. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 effectively...more
A memorable scene from the dark comedy “In Bruges” features a clash between a disgraced Irish assassin, played by Colin Farrell, and three portly American tourists after Farrell’s character warns them not to climb the narrow...more
The Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act significantly broadened the definition of protected disabled individuals under federal antidiscrimination law. In subsequent rules implementing ADAAA, the Equal Employment...more
In June of last year, we pondered whether obesity is a mere physical characteristic or a disability protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as now amended by the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act...more
In Morriss v. BNSF Railway Company, the Eighth Circuit recently held that obesity that is not caused by an underlying physiological condition is not a covered “impairment” for purposes of the Americans with Disabilities Act...more
In Weaving v. City of Hillsboro, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit waxed nostalgic by reversing a jury and lower court finding that a police officer with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) had a...more
We are all familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA prohibits discrimination based upon actual or perceived medical disabilities, and the ADA requires employers to accommodate employees with disabilities...more
A recent decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals held that under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an impairment or injury is not excluded as a disability simply because it is temporary. In deciding Summers...more
Once a conditional offer of employment is given, the Americans with Disabilities Act permits employers to require a pre-hire medical exam as a final condition of employment. If the exam reveals medical issues that would...more
Yet another federal court judge, the Honorable Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr. of the Eastern District of Missouri, recently ruled, in Whittaker v. America’s Car-Mart, Inc., that an employee’s severe obesity could constitute a...more
With the passage of the Americans with Disability Amendments Act, (ADAAA), Congress very purposefully moved disability-related inquiries away from whether employees are “qualified individuals with a disability” and refocused...more