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The Employer Handbook Blog“Focus on Your Health” Is Not a Lawful Reason to Fire Someone
Whatever the actual reason for firing an employee, the written explanation becomes evidence. A Mississippi restaurant is about to find out what that means. Continue reading
Articles Posted in Disability
One harassment claim can knock an entire case out of arbitration
Employers that rely on arbitration agreements should pay attention to a recent Sixth Circuit decision. One plausible sexual-harassment claim can keep an entire lawsuit in court—even claims that would otherwise go to arbitration. Continue reading
When the accommodation request admits the problem
Sometimes the accommodation request itself tells the whole story.
In a recent Fourth Circuit Rehabilitation Act decision, a federal air marshal asked to stay in a ground-based role permanently after medical conditions prevented her from flying. But in doing so, she also acknowledged that she could not perform the essential duties of the job she wanted to keep.
Can an Employee with Tourette’s Use Slurs and Keep Their Job? The ADA and Workplace Boundaries
At the British Academy Film Awards – better known as the BAFTAs, the U.K.’s version of the Oscars – a man with Tourette’s Syndrome interrupted the ceremony while actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award, shouting a racial slur.
That public moment raises a workplace question: If an employee with Tourette’s involuntarily uses the N-word around Black colleagues or the B-word around women, does the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require the employer to keep him in his job? Continue reading
Return to Office Doesn’t Mean Return to “No”: What Private Employers Can Learn from the EEOC’s Telework Guidance
Remote work policies are tightening. But the Americans with Disabilities Act did not disappear when companies decided the office feels collaborative again.
Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued federal-sector guidance on telework accommodations for employees with disabilities. Although written for federal agencies under the Rehabilitation Act, that statute incorporates ADA standards. So if you are a private employer navigating return-to-office mandates, this guidance is directly relevant. Continue reading
Helping Injured Men but Not Women: Sex Bias, Disability Discrimination, or Neither?
When employees say, “You helped him when he was injured but refused to help me,” it sounds like discrimination. It also sounds like a failure-to-accommodate dispute. A recent Ninth Circuit decision shows why that framing matters, and why getting it wrong can sink the case before it ever reaches a jury. Continue reading
How a Drug Test Exposed an ADA Compliance Gap
Hiring can feel like a checklist: background check, drug test, start date. But when an applicant raises a disability-related issue, those boxes stop being routine, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) starts asking questions. Continue reading
When Employers Decide Accommodation Is Impossible and Everything After That Gets Risky
Deciding too early that accommodation is impossible can shape everything that follows. This case shows why courts often let juries sort it out.
In a recent ADA decision from the Northern District of Illinois, an employer decided an injured employee could not return as a bus operator under her medical restrictions. After that decision, the employer relied on its absence-without-leave policy to terminate her. The court refused to end the case at summary judgment. Continue reading
When a 30-Second Recruiting Call Becomes Direct Evidence of ADA Discrimination
A single recruiting phone call. No application. No interview. And yet, enough evidence for a federal judge to let an ADA hiring case move forward. Continue reading
Remote Work as an Accommodation Still Comes With Performance Expectations
When an employee’s health takes a turn, the instinct is to be flexible. The legal risk is assuming flexibility means you cannot enforce expectations. Continue reading