When a disabled employee requests an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, this triggers an interactive process whereby both parties share information and work to determine if a reasonable and effective...more
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers established internal procedures to evaluate employees' requests for religious and medical-based exemptions from vaccination mandates. ...more
1/10/2025
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII
Lawsuits challenging employers' authority to require measures intended to prevent COVID-19 infections continue to wend their way through the federal judiciary. Last month, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a claim...more
12/6/2024
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Beliefs ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers attempting to enforce safety policies faced resistance from employees opposed to vaccination mandates. In many cases, employees claimed that taking the vaccine violated...more
Disputes between employees and employers over COVID-19-era vaccination and masking policies continue to work their way through the legal system. Earlier this month, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes...more
5/17/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disability ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Masks ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
The National Labor Relations Act’s employee protections extend beyond unionized workplaces or those undergoing organizing activities. Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who...more
3/29/2024
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Home Health Care ,
NLRA ,
NLRB ,
Popular ,
Protected Concerted Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Termination
During the COVID-19 pandemic and afterwards, employers have faced a growing number of requests for remote work arrangements based on a medical disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to grant...more
2/16/2024
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Essential Functions ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Remote Working ,
Retaliation ,
Telecommuting
In last term’s decision in Groff v. DeJoy, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly increased employers’ obligation to consider religious exemption requests under Title VII. Rather than the previous de minimus burden standard,...more
12/8/2023
/ Appeals ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dismissals ,
Employment Litigation ,
Groff v DeJoy ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
SCOTUS ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Vaccinations
Over the past two years, we have received an increasing number of inquiries from clients regarding their return to the office policies. While some workers object to the end of remote work due to lifestyle preferences, others...more
Litigation over employment issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic is finally reaching the trial and appellate courts. This week, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a lawsuit from a warehouse manager...more
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we started receiving an increasing number of questions from employers relating to employees seeking accommodations or leave for stress and anxiety-related mental health issues. In several of...more
Last week, the California Supreme Court responded to a request from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to clarify whether an employer can be sued for negligence based on an employee who contracts COVID-19 at work and later...more
With the end of the federal pandemic emergency declaration next month, employers may have thought that the legal wars over COVID-19 vaccination mandates may end as well. However, the Biden administration and anti-vaccination...more
When a social media platform bans a celebrity or politician due to violation of its rules and standards, we frequently hear that individual complain that the action violates their First Amendment rights to free speech. Every...more
3/17/2023
/ Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
First Amendment ,
Private Sector ,
Public Employers ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Vaccinations
President Biden recently announced that the national emergency relating to the COVID-19 pandemic will end on May 11, 2023. This move may result in unexpected tax issues for employers with remote workers in states where they...more
These days, efforts by the federal government to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for various groups seem like ancient history. Nevertheless, federal courts continue hearing challenges to the mandates filed by state governments,...more
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers were understandably concerned that regardless of the measures taken to prevent workplace infections, employees could still place co-workers and third parties in...more
When we talk with clients about their businesses these days, the universal complaint we receive from every type of company is the difficulty they continue to have in attracting and retaining qualified workers. Ever...more
In our experience, most employers outside of the health care industry have largely lost interest in mandating COVID-19 vaccinations. Given the less lethal variants that cause most current infections, along with lowered rates...more
It may seem like a lifetime ago, but employers may recall that in late 2021, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) withdrew its health care emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19,...more
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released new guidance on the control and prevention of the COVID-19 virus. The guidance makes significant changes in CDC recommendations for responding to...more
Earlier this month, the Biden administration declared a national health emergency based on the spread of the monkeypox virus. Employers that have endured the COVID-19 emergency may be asking whether there are any steps...more
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized a fourth coronavirus vaccination, approving a new shot developed by Novavax. Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna products, this vaccine does not use messenger RNA...more
On July 12, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released an amended Technical Assistance Q&A on the interaction between COVID-19 response measures and federal civil rights laws. While the revisions address a...more
The employment law blogs have been filled over the past two years with discussions about mandatory COVID-19 testing. However, not many employers have attempted to require employees to have their family members tested for...more