Do you have pregnant employees, employees returning from parental leave, or employees who have had a child or children in the last two years? Recent updates to two laws may impact accommodations you provide pregnant and...more
We can’t pass up the opportunity to encourage you to stay off the naughty list by telling you about this Eighth Circuit case offering guidance on working with your employees who request ADA accommodations. In Joseph Mobley v....more
12/22/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Leave of Absence ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working
How far does an employer’s judgment about essential functions take you? In Larry Tate v. Thomas Dart, the Seventh Circuit examined an employee’s claim that his employer’s refusal to promote him because it could not...more
It looks like medical marijuana products may be available in the Magnolia state later this fall. As expected, it will be highly regulated and can only be used by registered, qualified patients who have been diagnosed with a...more
9/1/2022
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
New Legislation ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
We are all familiar with the phrase “No good deed goes unpunished.” That apparently is the theme of an Eighth Circuit opinion reviewing an employee’s suit alleging that she was improperly denied an accommodation under the...more
For almost two years now, employers have been tackling the issues surrounding COVID-19. Not surprisingly most questions centered on COVID-19-specific leave, OSHA reporting requirements, and vaccines. Now, the EEOC has chimed...more
We’ve been talking a lot about COVID-19 lately and, in particular, the various regulations and guidance that have come out regarding an employer’s day-to-day responsibilities: Can you require employees to take the vaccine?...more
10/13/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination
The answer is it depends.
Why is the employee refusing the vaccine?
For employers mandating the vaccine, an employee’s refusal to receive it because he or she simply does not want to be vaccinated is likely fair game...more
9/24/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Guidance Update ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Termination ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations
We are so ready to put COVID-19 behind us, but unfortunately, the delta variant is keeping us on our toes. So, for the time being, where do we stand, and what do we do now?...more
8/4/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Mandates ,
School Districts ,
Travel ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently reiterated the importance of engaging in the interactive process with employees seeking disability accommodations. This case serves as a helpful reminder,...more
The EEOC updated its very clearly titled, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws,” last week to provide some much needed guidance on COVID-19 vaccine issues. While the...more
6/1/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Documentation ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Incentives ,
New Guidance ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations
Do you trust your employees about their vaccination status, or do you need to see proof? Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new mask guidance came out last week, many employers have been wrestling...more
5/20/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disclosure ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Masks ,
New Guidance ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations
COVID-19 has rocked our world and changed the landscape of workplaces everywhere-including in schools. While we've navigated short-term emergency legislation and (we hope) short-term virtual learning arrangements in 2020, we...more
Earlier this month, voters in five states took to the ballot box and legalized some form of marijuana use. Polls show that two-thirds of Americans now favor marijuana legalization, and 59% said it should be legal for both...more
11/20/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Ballot Measures ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Legalization ,
Local Elections ,
Marijuana ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Elections ,
State Labor Laws ,
Zero Tolerance Policies
There is a new law for Tennessee employers. As of October 1, 2020, those of you with employees in Tennessee must reasonably accommodate pregnant employees under the state’s new “Pregnant Workers Fairness Act” or else face...more
11/10/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Duty to Accommodate ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Legislation ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State and Local Government
As the country moves closer to fully opening businesses, the Department of Labor wants to remind all employers that their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act are still in place for workers with disabilities....more
8/26/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
High Risk Covid Employees ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Sick Employees ,
Social Distancing ,
Telecommuting ,
Workplace Safety
How long do you have to reinstate an employee following military leave? In Harwood v. American Airlines, the Fourth Circuit found that a delay of six or eight weeks was too long. The Uniformed Services Employment and...more
What happens if you give an employee an accommodation that goes above and beyond what the ADA requires? Can you change your mind down the road and stop providing that accommodation? Or are you stuck providing that...more
Does a position that a company is holding for an employee out on FMLA leave an “open position” as contemplated by the Americans with Disabilities Act? In Maxwell v. Washington County, a Mississippi federal district court said...more
Obesity has been recognized as a disease by the American Medical Association, National Institutes of Health, and the World Health Organization. Does that mean obesity qualifies as a physical impairment under the Americans...more
What do you do when an employee discloses that he or she is stressed out and needs a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but the requested accommodation strikes you as unreasonable? If you are...more
Remember that case we told you about last year with the flu vaccines and the EEOC suing for employees on religious discrimination grounds? To recap– in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Mission Hospital a federal...more
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s fiscal year ended on Sept. 30, 2017 and it has released its yearly "Performance and Accountability Report." Although this is a look back, it provides insight on what is...more
12/27/2017
/ Age Discrimination ,
Annual Reports ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Genetic Discrimination ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Mediation ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Violations ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Sex Discrimination
Before everyone gets out of the office to their various homes and families to celebrate the holiday, we wanted to review the year and count our blessings. Not only are we thankful that our families and colleagues in our...more
11/22/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Joint Employers ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Leave ,
NLRB ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media Policy ,
Wage and Hour
We have said it before — the EEOC believes that leave is a reasonable accommodation and automatic termination when FMLA leave runs out violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Even though at least one federal court has...more