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Articles Posted in Disability

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Here’s a nice recap of my #SHRMleg “Becoming an ADA Expert” session

By rp72 (Opening o2 Arena London Bon Jovi) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons“In a packed room at the 2018 SHRM Employment Law and Legislative Conference in Washington D.C., Eric Meyer of FisherBroyles, LLP provided practical guidance for HR Professionals so that they can handle an ADA accommodation situation at…

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When can you stop allowing extensions of leave under the ADA?

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/network-cable-ethernet-plug-1027307/) Last September, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a multi-month leave of absence is never a reasonable accommodation under the Americans With Disabilities Act. That’s all well and good for employers in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. But, what about the rest of us? For…

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The first cannabis stores in PA are opening. It’s time to re-educate employers on what that means.

Image Credit: Pixabay.com It’s been a while since we addressed the legalization of medical marijuana in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and what that means for employers. It was about two years ago to be precise. Last October, I presented on this topic at the SHRM Lehigh Valley “annual” October Conference. …

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The ADA usually doesn’t require accommodating an employee’s first choice of yoga classes.

Image Credit: Pexels.com Sometimes, the blogging gods lob me a softball. And when that happens, I know what to do. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires an employer to accommodate an individual with a disability where, absent undue hardship to the employer, doing so will enable that person to perform the essential…

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Don’t forget leave as an ADA accommodation. (Yeah, that’s right. Leave!)

Image Credit: Photofunia.com Over the Summer, I blogged here about the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc. (opinion here). In Severson, the Court concluded that “a multimonth leave of absence is beyond the scope of a reasonable accommodation under the ADA….Simply put, an extended leave of absence does not give a disabled…

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Hey Handbook! Do we have to let our employee bring his emotional-support peacock to work?

Image Credit: Pexels.com Bet you weren’t expecting that, were you? No, peacocks can’t fly…commercial. Several news outlets are reporting that a major US airline refused to allow an emotional-support animal to board a plane at Newark Airport this weekend with its human companion. Daniella Silva’s quip from her report on…

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A lesson on workplace drug testing and opioids

Image Credit: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trileptal_tablets.jpg) CC BY-SA 3.0, Link One of your potential hires just completed a five-panel drug test as a condition of employment, and he tested positive for opioids. What do you do? Did your company violate the law by using a drug screen that detects opioids? No. It didn’t.…

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Will the Supreme Court sip from the FMLA ‘Holy Grail’?

Image Credit: danielle_blue on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/82705783@N00/101958911) CC BY-SA 2.0, Link Okayyyyyy! Oh, hold up. Not that Holy Grail. Back in September, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals gift-wrapped an FMLA opinion for local employers. I blogged about it here. In Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc. (here), the Seventh Circuit held that “a multimonth…

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89,000 reasons to take a more holistic approach to workplace accommodations

Image Credit: photofunia.com Here’s a reminder from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for employers to think twice about setting a deadline on an employee’s accommodation request. For example, last week the EEOC announced that it had settled a religious accommodation lawsuit against a North Carolina hospital. According to the…