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The federal agency that enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws is suing an employer for allegedly failing to accommodate an employee’s known pregnancy-related limitations, the first-ever lawsuit filed under the new...more
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced a settlement to resolve a discrimination charge alleging an employer terminated a pregnant employee after she requested a reasonable accommodation to...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
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled workers, but not necessarily the accommodation favored by the employee. ...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
Vaccine Exemption Policy Requiring Citation to Official Doctrine Violates First Amendment Madison Houghton and Nathan A. Adams IV In Does 1-11 v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Colorado, 100 F. 4th 1251 (10th Cir. 2024), former...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
Complete answers may be several years in the making. A year ago this month, in Groff v. DeJoy, the Supreme Court of the United States held that an employer who rejects a request for a religious accommodation “must show that...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
In a recent decision affirming summary judgment in favor of defendant Human Resources Agency of New Britain, Inc. (the “Agency”), the Connecticut Appellate Court (decision.pdf) provided employers with useful guidance about...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
Considering the termination of a high school teacher who underwent hip surgery and the refusal of a hospital to allow a nursing student’s service dog, the U.S. Court of Appeals, First and Sixth Circuits, both affirmed...more
The Supreme Court earlier this month declined to address who has standing to sue a business whose website violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer, the justices unanimously remanded...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
Although the Supreme Court already has heard a number of significant arguments, this term has not yet seen any major substantive opinions. This is not to say that there isn’t a lot going on at, or on the way to, the Court....more
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued its much anticipated ruling in Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer vacating the matter as moot. Doing so, SCOTUS left private business owners grappling with the existing...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: SCOTUS’s refusal to clarify standing requirements for “tester” plaintiffs in ADA Title III lawsuits means it’s business as usual for the plaintiffs’ bar....more
After waiting nearly a year for a decision that would have provided businesses with some much-needed clarity (and hopefully some relief), the Supreme Court tossed from its docket a case involving a legal “tester” who “surfed...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: SCOTUS asked revealing questions in Wednesday's Acheson v. Laufer oral argument, but left attendees wondering whether the Court will provide much-needed guidance on the so-called “tester standing” issue...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 a July 28, 2023 ruling, the Seventh Circuit has signaled that Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) seeking to enforce pronoun policies can expect to face increased scrutiny. Specifically, the Seventh Circuit vacated its...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