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ADA

Smells like trouble at Detroit planning agency

09/01/2007

A Detroit planning department employee has sued the city, claiming a co-worker’s perfume made it impossible for her to work. The co-worker, who transferred into the department a year ago, wore strong perfume and used a room deodorizer …

Don’t use attendance policy to avoid accommodations

09/01/2007

While attendance is an important goal, refusing to allow disabled employees some leeway is a sure way to the courtroom. Before you adopt a strict no-excuses tardiness policy, make sure you consider the special problems disabled employees may have. You can’t just declare that being on time is an essential function of every job and leave it at that …

EEOC Focuses on ‘Family-Responsibilities Bias’

09/01/2007

The EEOC recently issued enforcement guidance declaring that disparate treatment of employees who care for children, parents or other family members violates federal law. “Disparate treatment” generally means an employer intentionally treated employees differently because of a protected factor such as race, gender, age or—in this case—their need to care for family members …

You can discuss absenteeism without violating disability law

09/01/2007

Employees with disabilities may be absent more than other employees. That doesn’t mean you can’t reasonably ask about those absences. In fact, courts have ruled that it’s not necessarily harassment even when supervisors land hard on disabled employees who are frequently no-shows …

Drug testing: Minimize lawsuit risk with smart policy

09/01/2007

You have the right to demand a drug-free workplace, but employees also have reasonable rights to privacy. That’s why drug testing and substance-abuse prevention programs carry big-time legal risks if they’re not managed properly. Employers can safely administer drug testing before hiring someone, during a fitness-for-duty test and after a preventable accident …

Now hear this: Subway franchisee must pay $166,500 in ADA case

09/01/2007

A federal district court jury awarded a Subway restaurant employee $166,500 in a disability discrimination suit. After a trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the jury concluded that Bobrich Enterprises Inc., which operates Subway restaurants in Dallas, violated the ADA by harassing a hearing-impaired employee …

Handful of absences not enough to prove actual disability

08/01/2007

Disabled employees are entitled to protection from discrimination, but they must prove that they are actually disabled under the ADA or the federal Rehabilitation Act. And that’s no easy task …

Part-Time work seldom a reasonable accommodation

08/01/2007

Common sense says that an employee with full-time job responsibilities cannot perform that job on a part-time basis. But that’s essentially what disabled employees claim when they ask for a permanent reduced-hour schedule …

OK to terminate disabled worker—If there’s no way to accommodate

08/01/2007

The ADA says disabled employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations—but the key phrase is “reasonable” …

Fired worker can still receive total-Disability benefits

08/01/2007

The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled that an injured employee may continue to receive temporary total-disability benefits even if he no longer qualifies for his position …