12/09/2009
Under the terms of the ADA, disabled employees have job protection—if they are able to perform the essential functions of their jobs, with or without accommodations. But those accommodations have to be reasonable. If you consider attendance an essential job function, courts probably won’t compel you to allow disabled employees to miss unreasonable amounts of work.
12/09/2009
Many medical conditions aren’t disabling, so they don’t qualify for protection under the ADA. That’s because they don’t actually impair a major life activity like walking, breathing, taking care of oneself or working. But sometimes employers mistakenly believe that a medical condition is disabling when it’s not. If they express those beliefs, they may make themselves vulnerable to a “regarded as disabled” lawsuit.