• The HR Specialist - Print Newsletter
  • HR Specialist: Employment Law
  • The HR Weekly

ADA

Don’t delay: Act on termination decision ASAP

11/25/2019
When you have good reason to fire a worker, it makes little sense to put off acting on your decision. That’s especially true if it’s for poor performance. Otherwise, if the employee’s work improves in the interim and he has decided to complain about discrimination, your subsequent termination may look like retaliation.

Understand interplay between FMLA, ADA when employee must care for family member

11/07/2019
Employees may have the right to take time off to care for a disabled family member under the FMLA, but the same isn’t true under the ADA for a request for reasonable accommodations of time off to care for the same family member.

EEOC: Assisted living facility in McKinney, Texas violated ADA

11/07/2019
Enlivant, an nationwide provider of assisted-living residences, faces an EEOC lawsuit alleging the company illegally terminated a chef who worked at its North Brook Place facility in McKinney, Texas.

ADA requires accommodating disabled customers, too

10/31/2019
Don’t ignore public access requests—or worse yet, lawsuits over accessibility. That may lead to a so-called default judgment.

ADA blame game creates hostile environment

10/31/2019
Instruct all employees to treat everyone with respect and avoid crass blame games.

Don’t keep shopping for better doc opinions

10/24/2019
If two independent medical opinions say that an employee is healthy enough to return to work, don’t go chasing a third opinion. Courts frown on medical-opinion shopping and could see your actions as discriminatory.

Federal jury: Walmart must pay $5.2 million for ADA violation

10/22/2019
The EEOC won a major victory in federal court Oct. 11 when a jury awarded $5.2 million to a long-time Walmart employee who was suddenly denied an ADA accommodation that had been working for years.

Not every illness constitutes a disability

10/15/2019
Fortunately, not every medical malady is a disability under the ADA. Workers must prove their condition substantially limits a major life activity.

Endless time off? Indefinite leave not considered a reasonable accommodation

10/15/2019
Employers don’t have to provide any additional leave to workers who can’t give at least a tentative return date.

Resist assuming that employee’s disability might cause a safety hazard

10/15/2019
Challenging a disabled employee’s capacity for work can backfire badly, especially if it looks as if the decision to challenge was really based on disability discrimination and harassment.