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ADA

Co-worker violence blamed on psychological disability: Can we ask for a medical certification?

06/03/2013
Q. An employee of ours accused a co-worker of threatening him with physical harm. When we confronted the accused employee, he attributed the behavior to his psychological disorder and to a recent change in his prescription. We would like to verify the em­­ployee’s claims. Are we permitted to ask the em­­ployee for medical certification of his disability and a doctor’s statement regarding his prescribed medications?

Employer pulls job offer, attracts ADA lawsuit

05/31/2013
The EEOC is suing Presbyterian Healthcare Associates in Charlotte, alleging it violated the ADA when it refused to hire a phlebotomist with a creaky knee.

Disabled worker can’t perform? OK to terminate

05/31/2013
Sometimes, it’s obvious that a disabled employee isn’t going to be able to perform her job, with or without accommodations. As long as you have documented your efforts to help, rest assured a court probably won’t fault you for terminating the employee.

Employee won’t even try ADA accommodation? That ends your obligation

05/28/2013
Here’s a bit of good news for employers that try to accommodate disabilities but whose efforts are rejected out of hand: When you offer what looks like a reasonable accommodation and an employee refuses to even try it, you are no ­longer obligated to retain her. A worker who rejects an offered accommodation is no longer covered by the ADA if she doesn’t even try it first.

EEOC offers new guidance on ADA and common disabilities

05/24/2013
The EEOC has issued four revised guidance documents addressing how the ADA applies to applicants and employees with cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and intellectual disabilities.

Employee acting strangely? When can you require a mental exam before she returns?

05/23/2013
Let’s face it: Some employees are a bit unusual. They may do a good job, but their personal quirks may make other employees feel uncomfortable. Before you rush to demand the employee get counseling or see a doctor, remember that the ADA prohibits such requests unless there is a clear business necessity for the exam.

Disability-bias suit seeks promotional video captions

05/20/2013
A hearing-impaired Los Angeles man is suing the Bed Bath & Beyond retail chain, complaining that it fails to provide captions or transcripts for the promotional videos that play in the aisles of its stores.

OK to terminate disabled employee if effort to accommodate is unsuccessful

05/20/2013
Employers are supposed to reasonably accommodate an employee’s disability so he or she can perform the essential functions of the job. Some workers take that as a guarantee that—should they develop a disability—their employer must find a position the employee can do. That’s simply not the case.

Central Valley fast food firm forks over $100K for bias

05/20/2013
Merced-based Alia Corp., which owns 20 McDonald’s franchises in the Cen­­­­tral Valley, will pay $100,000 to settle a former supervisor’s disability discrimination suit. The man claimed Alia illegally demoted him because of his intellectual disability.

Vacuum company sucks it up, agrees to settle bias suit

05/10/2013
Waconia-based Applied Vacuum Technologies (AVT) has settled a disability discrimination suit with the EEOC. A former employee had filed the complaint after the company terminated him.