With the passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), the law on how you accommodate pregnant workers changed last June, and we blogged about it. Then the EEOC issued extensive regulations last August, and we blogged...more
6/21/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Pregnancy ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Pregnant Workers Fairness Act ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Agenda
Does it seem like you are dealing with more mental health issues in your workforce? If so, you are not alone. Recent mental health claim statistics show an alarming increase in chronic illnesses since the pandemic. For adults...more
If an individual’s disability causes involuntary racist or profane utterances, what would a reasonable accommodation under the ADA look like? In Cooper v. Dolgencorp, LLC, the Sixth Circuit faced just such an inquiry....more
No-fault attendance policies may be on a watchlist for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
A recent matter before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, EEOC v. Eberspaecher North America Inc.,...more
Do you have a “no fault” attendance policy or some other way in which employees get points for absences? If so, be careful. A recent Eleventh Circuit matter, EEOC v. Eberspaecher North America, Inc. suggests that the Equal...more
Mass shootings have been increasingly in the headlines in recent years, and many of these incidents have occurred in the workplace. Regardless of anyone’s politics, employers are having to face either the fear of, or the...more
4/13/2023
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Employee Training ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hostile Environment ,
Mass Shootings ,
Risk Management ,
Workplace Communication ,
Workplace Safety ,
Workplace Violence
Now almost two and a half years into the pandemic, employers may think they have hit their stride on what to do to make sure their employees are COVID-19-free and safe. As with everything in life, you need to be up to date on...more
Given the explosive growth of cannabis products and the increasing number of states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal or adult use (nearly 40 at last count), employers across the country are asking whether they can...more
4/22/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
Section 301 ,
State and Local Government ,
Termination
In our modern world of a booming CBD industry and an increasing number of states that have legalized marijuana, can you terminate an employee for a positive drug test for marijuana? What if the test shows marijuana...more
4/6/2022
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Drug Testing ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
State and Local Government ,
Summary Judgment ,
Termination
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
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
The EEOC just amended its Q&A document on COVID-19 testing to address what COVID-19 testing employers can require. At this time (and it could change), the EEOC says that the ADA does not allow employers to require antibody...more
Not all requests for accommodation or FMLA leave will fit into neat boxes like “pregnancy” or “knee surgery.” Because the ADA definition of a disability includes any impairment that affects a major life function, employers...more
1/7/2019
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interactive Process ,
Leave of Absence ,
Mental Health ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Traveling Employee
Many employers have progressive discipline policies. Are they always followed? Probably not. Should they be? Absolutely, and Lindeman v. St. Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, a recent case in the Eighth Circuit, demonstrates...more
Many people chuckled when they read the news story about the woman who attempted to bring her “emotional support squirrel” on a Frontier Airlines Flight early in October. However, it is hard not to notice the proliferation of...more
“You have to show up for work—it’s a part of your job.” Attendance at the workplace is an essential work function in an ADA case. But is it really anymore? With technology, some would argue that many jobs can be done from...more
7/20/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Attendance ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ,
Full-Time Employees ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Interactive Process ,
Job Descriptions ,
Job Duties ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reversal ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Summary Judgment ,
Work Schedules
Urine testing—not one of the more popular work activities. However, drug tests are part of safety programs throughout the country. Two recent events—one a court decision and one a potential legislative event—give me the...more
If an employee gets a doctor’s note saying she can’t participate in training because of a physical limitation, does that make her disabled? It might if you treat her like she is—at least that is what the Eleventh Circuit...more
1/17/2018
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Descriptions ,
Race Discrimination ,
Reversal ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII ,
Unpaid Leave
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
When is a financial incentive in an employee-sponsored wellness program so high that employees can’t afford not to participate—rendering the program no longer voluntary? Well (pun intended), the District Court for the...more
8/30/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Genetic Discrimination ,
GINA ,
Health Insurance ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Wellness Programs
In a battle between a mentally ill employee seeking accommodation for his job at a nuclear plant and federal nuclear safety codes—-which wins out? The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ended up going with safety codes....more
The 7th Circuit, in a short opinion issued April 6, zapped a plaintiff’s claim that he was terminated in violation of the ADA based on his condition of being overexposed to electromagnetic voltage at his job. Mr. Hirmiz, a...more
Can fear of an aspect of your job constitute a disability under the ADA? Depends on how essential the function is. In Stevens v. Rite Aid Corp, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals looked at the case of a Rite Aid pharmacist,...more
3/24/2017
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Essential Functions ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Pharmacies ,
Pharmacist ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Rite Aid ,
Wrongful Termination
On December 12, 2016, the EEOC issued a guidance document discussing workplace rights for individuals diagnosed with mental health conditions under the Americans With Disabilities Act. The EEOC noted that in 2016, the agency...more
The EEOC recently announced that it is suing FedEx Ground Package System for allegedly violating the Americans With Disabilities Act in their dealings with deaf and hearing-impaired workers nationwide. The suit claims that...more