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ADA

Cost of blind faith in medical test: $4.4 million

06/28/2018
A $4.4 million hit to the corporate checking account just reminded an Illinois employer that the ADA requires an individualized assessment of disabled employees’ ability to perform their jobs.

EEOC files disability bias suit against San Diego hotel

06/26/2018
Merritt Hospitality and HEI Hotels and Resorts, who together operate the Embassy Suites San Diego Bay, face an EEOC lawsuit alleging that the hotel failed to grant an asthmatic employee’s accommodation request.

Don’t use disability leave as excuse to terminate

06/26/2018
Under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, employers must reasonably accommodate disabled workers with disability leave. If that leave is then used against the worker to justify a termination, it ceases being a reasonable accommodation.

Absences may disqualify disabled employee

06/26/2018
Employees who suffer from disabilities as defined in the ADA or serious health conditions as defined in the FMLA enjoy some job protections. But those protections are not unlimited.

Part-time job may be reasonable accommodation

06/26/2018
The ADA requires employers to consider transfer to open positions as reasonable accommodations for disabled workers. But what if an employee isn’t qualified for any open full-time positions? A part-time position may suffice.

ADA doesn’t guarantee right to pick a different supervisor

06/26/2018
An employee may claim that the stress of having a difficult boss creates a mental disability such as major depression. She can ask for another supervisor as a reasonable accommodation—but employers don’t have to grant it.

Justify discipline by documenting the reasons at the time you decided to act

06/22/2018
Courts hate to second-guess employers’ disciplinary decisions. If you are sued for discrimination, give judges every reason to believe that your organization isn’t biased. The best way is to detail the surrounding circumstances that gave rise to discipline.

Accommodation requires employee’s good faith

06/21/2018
An employee who makes a request for an ADA reasonable accommodation and is punished for doing so may have a retaliation claim. But she has to actually believe in good faith that the accommodation she is requesting will work.

Employment law update: FMLA & ADA, FLSA & higher education

06/14/2018
Here are  updates on the interaction between the FMLA and the ADA, and on the U. S. Department of Labor’s new guidance on the FLSA and higher educational institutions.

Employee acting as own lawyer? Expect delays

06/14/2018
Unfortunately for employers, pro se litigation can take lots of time (and money) to defend. Judges are often willing to indulge employees who act as their own lawyers by providing detailed instructions on how to revise a complaint that would have been summarily dismissed had it come from an attorney.