As the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s fiscal year comes to a close, the agency has filed a slew of discrimination lawsuits. One that caught my eye involves an employer that allegedly rescinded an offer of employment once it found out that the individual was using prescription drugs to treat…
Articles Posted in Disability
How much leave from work is unreasonable under the ADA? [SPOILER ALERT: Not much]
That’s because, last week, a federal appellate court held that long-term medical leave is not a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act. 12 weeks of FMLA plus 2-3 more months of leave. The case is Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc., and you can read the Seventh Circuit’s opinion here.…
Does the ADA require you to favor minimally-qualified disabled employees over rock-star job applicants?
It depends. (Of course, it does). Suppose that you employ someone who, during the course of his employment, becomes disabled. This disability makes it impossible for the employee to perform his current job. Enter the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA requires an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation to a qualified…
Does the ADA ever require six months of employee leave? Sure does, says the EEOC.
Is this the face of a company that would fire an employee who was on leave receiving treatment for breast cancer rather than granting her request for additional leave for more treatment? Yes indeed according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.According to this press release and this complaint filed in…
Federal judge to EEOC: Your wellness-program incentive rules are kind’ve a big dumpster fire
Well, maybe not in those words exactly. But, the judge did have some scathing words for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s take on wellness-program incentives. Remind me. What are these incentive rules? Back in 2016, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission passed new regulations impacting wellness programs. Among other things,…
Sometimes, a little flexibility — and (gasp) humanity — can avoid a big employment lawsuit
Ah yes. We’re going to attempt to put the “human” in HR today. **clutches icy-cold lawyer heart** In Grant v. Hospital Authority of Miller County (opinion here), the plaintiff filed and was approved for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act due to complications with her pregnancy. After giving birth…
Another court greenlights a medicinal marijuana user’s lawsuit against his former employer
This may not be Magic vs. Bird or Biggie vs. Tupac. Those battles are too close to call. But, if I were to ask you which side of the country, east coast or west coast, would offer greater judicial support for the employment rights of medicinal-marijuana cardholders, you’d say west…
Hey D-Man! Enjoy every bit of that ice cream birthday pie!
I adored Jon Hyman’s ADA blog post yesterday. So much so that it even began to thaw my icy-cold management-side employment-lawyer heart. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to hire slow and fire fast to get my mojo back.
I’ll hang out for a bit while you grab the maximum-leave policy in your employee handbook
Don’t have one? Good. You can skip today’s post. As for the rest of you, say a silent prayer to whatever higher power you believe in, email me a thank you, and read on… Yesterday, some of my buddies and I delivered the second of two continuing legal education sessions…
Yes, litigators must come to the office and go to court, says federal appellate court
Bad news for all you coffee-shop lawyers out there. ***ducks lightning bolt*** About a year ago, I blogged here about a litigation attorney with the State of Louisiana. She has a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act. On account of her illness, the U.S. Department of Justice accommodated the litigator by allowing…