Job Description Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
HR Law 101 Ep.4: What You Need to Know About Creating Effective Job Descriptions
On April 15, 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final rule interpreting and providing guidance on the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment award on an employee’s failure-to-accommodate claim. The Court’s decision focused on the employer’s improperly narrow delineation of the...more
In a case that helps employers understand what a “reasonable accommodation” is, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed a lower court’s ruling of summary judgment for a Georgia employer who was accused of...more
Artificial intelligence (AI) can help streamline business processes making workers more efficient and driving costs down for the consumer. What happens, though, when an employer uses AI in hiring decisions?...more
There is no exhaustive list of potentially reasonable accommodations. Whether an accommodation is reasonable will depend on the unique circumstances of each instance, including the particular employee’s limitations and...more
It’s official. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has successfully expanded to television. While Marvel has had previous forays into this medium (including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and various shows on Netflix), WandaVision...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Athleisure company is rightfully able to terminate the employment of individual with physical limitations, despite that individual’s ability to delegate such functions of her position. See Tonyan v....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 7, 2020, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (“EOHED”) issued its updated COVID-19 Essential Services FAQs, providing more details on what is and what is not...more
A North Carolina federal trial court recently denied an employer’s request to dismiss a former employee’s disability discrimination and retaliation claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The case provides a...more
The retail setting is a particularly difficult one in which to make accommodations. This is because retail employees engage in a host of different duties that require all manner of physical activities. Those who are...more
What happens if you give an employee an accommodation that goes above and beyond what the ADA requires? Can you change your mind down the road and stop providing that accommodation? Or are you stuck providing that...more
In Popeck v. Rawlings Company, LLC, No. 19-5092 (October 16, 2019), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Rawlings Company on Popeck’s claims under the Americans with Disabilities...more
On October 29, 2019, a panel of Seventh Circuit Appellate Court Judges held that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not cover alleged discrimination based on future impairments. Shell v. Burlington N. Santa Fe Ry....more
The Sixth Circuit previously explained in Hostettler v. College of Wooster, 895 F.3d 844 (6th Cir. 2018) that regular, in-person attendance is not a per se essential function of every job. Rather, employers must tie...more
A recent case from a federal court highlights the importance of accurate job descriptions. In Wiggins v. City of Montgomery, Plaintiff applied for a promotion to the position of Revenue Examiner on three occasions over an...more
Job descriptions are a crucial part of recruitment and hiring, and of performing an Equal Pay Act Analysis, classifying employees for purposes of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and developing reasonable accommodations under...more
Employers in Ontario will likely welcome the decision in Katz et al. v. Clarke, 2019 ONSC 2188 (Divisional Court), which addressed the scope of the duty to accommodate in the event of an employee’s permanent disability. ...more
It was a close call, but a court recently denied an employee’s Americans with Disabilities Act claim that her employer had improperly refused a request to continue working from home as an accommodation. With the growth of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In a 2-1 decision in Bilinsky v American Airlines, Inc., 2019 WL 2610944 (7th Cir. June 26, 2019), the Seventh Circuit recently affirmed American Airlines’ summary judgment win against a former employee who...more
Prior to the advent of social media and especially the #MeToo movement, employers were generally comfortable drawing a bright line between what employees did on their own time and workplace misconduct. ...more
When can you send an employee for a medical exam? In EEOC v. McLeod Health, Inc., the Fourth Circuit recently provided some guidance and allowed a plaintiff’s claim for an illegal medical exam to proceed to the jury despite...more
Recently, the United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed that regular and reliable attendance is an essential function of most jobs under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Lipp v. Cargill Meat...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: A recent case from the Western District of North Carolina contains a helpful example of how the standards applicable to an employee’s request for accommodation of a disability differ from those for...more
A good job description can equip an employer with the best possible workforce available. Inaccuracies and oversights, however, can entangle your company in litigation for years. Bethany Salvatore and Bryant Andrews talk us...more
Just a few months ago, we wrote about a case where a federal district court denied summary judgment to an employer who had asserted that attendance at work was an essential job function. The Court held that although regular...more