Job Description Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
Earlier this month, in Strife v. Aldine Independent School District, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employer’s delayed accommodation of an employee’s disability could amount to a failure to accommodate under...more
When an employee requests an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, this sets into motion an interactive process intended to determine whether the requested accommodation is both reasonable and effective....more
This decision surrounds the case of Alisha Strife v. Aldine Independent School District, in which the plaintiff, a U.S. Army veteran employed in the school district’s Human Resources department, requested an accommodation for...more
Employers are increasing the push for employees to return to physical workplaces. Whether through flexible hybrid models or return-to-office mandates, companies are reevaluating what work looks like in a post-pandemic world....more
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may require an employer to accommodate a disability even when an employee could perform the job without it. That is the upshot of the recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for...more
A federal appeals court recently clarified that an employee may qualify for a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) even if they can perform essential job functions without such an...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a protected qualified individual as one who can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodations. ...more
On March 25, 2025, in Tudor v. Whitehall Central School District, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated the Northern District of New York’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Whitehall...more
Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals announced a significant change to the standard by which employers must address disability-related accommodation requests. In Tudor v. Whitehall Central School District, Case No....more
Employers in New York, Connecticut, and Vermont should take note of a recent Second Circuit decision holding that an employee may still be entitled to a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act...more
Interesting decision this week from a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. A high school math teacher (we’ll call her “Ms. Plantagenet”) had post-traumatic stress disorder. Years earlier, her...more
On October 17, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas entered summary judgment in favor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, as representative of the Kansas City Board of Public...more
The Seventh Circuit’s recent decision – holding that an employee’s request for a second chance that allows them to change their behavior to meet employer expectations is not a “reasonable accommodation” under the ADA –...more
On August 9, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on an employee’s...more
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a number of federal court decisions involving disability discrimination claims from teachers who requested full-time remote work as an accommodation for compromised immune systems or other...more
The Supreme Court issued several momentous decisions last term that will have a lasting impact on employer practices. The Justices continued to shape the workplace law landscape by ruling on an array of issues involving...more
This Littler Lightbulb highlights some of the more significant employment law developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal in the last month....more
It is well settled that when requesting reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employees are not required to use the words “ADA,” “reasonable accommodation,” “disability,” or any other...more
On February 14, 2024, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont dismissed a plaintiff’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) discrimination and failure-to-accommodate case, holding that his medical...more
SkyWest Airlines, Inc., was justified in discharging a deaf ramp agent because his inability to hear or effectively communicate posed a “direct threat” to the safety of himself and others, the U.S. District Court for the...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
A high-level IT worker who claimed he was discriminated against because of his medical condition was not entitled to a jury trial or monetary damages for his retaliation claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)....more
In EEOC v. Charter Communications, LLC, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held an employee with a disability may be entitled to an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation to get to work when attendance...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in Beasley v. O’Reilly Auto Parts, recently held that a claim for failure-to-accommodate under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) must include an adverse employment...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Tenth Circuit further clarifies The Rehabilitation Act while making it even harder to get rid of failure to accommodate claims at the summary judgment stage; FEHA and ADA implications may follow....more