Yesterday, the Americans with Disabilities Act turned 25. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, the EEOC has created a new resource (here), which addresses the state of the ADA, lists important milestones, and offers links to a series of ADA resources. Save the Family and Medical Leave Act, I get more…
We all know that the Americans with Disabilities Act makes its unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an individual on the basis of his or her disability. But, the Act has even broader protections for employees. The ADA expressly prohibits “excluding or otherwise denying equal jobs or benefits to a…
A friendly reminder that, just because your job description might say what an employee is supposed to do, doesn’t mean that’s what your employee actually does. And, in an Americans with Disabilities Act case, here’s why that matters… At 7:00 am (yawn) on Tuesday, June 30, I’m presenting “My Employees Can…
Just another ho-hum Wednesday here at the ol’ Handbook. Urine trouble now. So, did you hear the one about the employee who got caught urinating next to shopping carts near the front entrance of a big home improvement store? He even admitted to, and apologized for, his public urination, explaining that he…
Wow! I thought I’d seen it all in the employment space in the past 72 hours with this Rachel Dolezal downward spiral (bing, bang, boom). But, this recent federal-court opinion I read last night. The one about an employee with Attention Deficit Disorder who was fired after discussing vaginal massages with…
[cue music] Let’s say that you have an employee who suffers from anxiety and stress. The employee is very religious and her doctor encourages her to attend church on Sundays. Not only does church provide fulfill her spiritually, but it helps to lower both the stress and anxiety and significantly reduce her…
This can be a really difficult situation. Just ask a local Pennsylvania employer. In Brady v. United Refrigeration, Inc. (opinion here), the plaintiff suffered from heightened sensitivity to perfumes, fragrant chemicals, and lotions. After she told her employer, the company attempted a number of accommodations: Purchased a portable air cleaner for use…
Telework is among the array of possible reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act that may enable an employee with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job. Now, as a federal appellate court confirmed last month, there are situations in which telework is not a reasonable accommodation; namely, where…
Isn’t the Americans with Disabilities Act fun? Oh, right, it’s the federal employment law that y’all voted the one that keeps you up most at night. ADA garnered 30% of the votes in yesterday’s hella-lazy blog post of a poll. FMLA and FLSA tied for second with 23% of the…
Ok. Let’s assume that I’m looking to fill another Blogprentice position here at the Bloggerdome. [FYI – The Blogprentice’s job is to massage my scalp during those brief periods of writer’s block or when I get the vapors, rub my feet at all other times, plus whatever tasks, reasonable or…