Safety policies should protect workplaces, not produce eight-figure ADA exposure. This case shows how a rigid medical rule, applied without individualized assessment, can turn a routine injury into a litigation disaster.

TL;DR: A jury found that an employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and Oregon disability law by enforcing a blanket medical policy that unlawfully screened out an employee instead of evaluating his actual abilities. The jury issued an advisory award that included $25 million in punitive damages, and the court declined to disturb the verdict.

📄 Read the court’s decision

This case is a reminder that the ADA interactive process is about engagement, not just documentation. When an employer waits too long, courts start asking why.

That question sat at the center of this dispute and ultimately kept the case alive. Continue reading

Failure-to-accommodate claims usually turn on what an employer didn’t do.

Here, the more interesting question was whether there was any ADA duty to begin with. Continue reading

How can you tell if your business is big enough to trigger federal or state employment laws? A recent Ninth Circuit case illustrates just how complicated that question can get. Two columns in a payroll spreadsheet generated two different employee counts, creating a triable issue about legal coverage. Continue reading

Led Zeppelin was decades ahead of the ADA, but “good times, bad times” captures exactly how episodic disabilities can look in the workplace. Some employees have great days. Others have rough days. Most have both. And under the ADA, those fluctuating limitations still count. A recent Sixth Circuit decision shows why employers cannot ignore an employee’s bad days just because the good ones look fine. Continue reading

A Detroit nonprofit employee said the air in her office made her sick after a flood. She claimed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) let her work from home instead. Her doctor agreed she should avoid mold but never said she couldn’t come in. After a short remote stint, she returned to full-time, in-person work. A year later, she turned down a contractor role and sued. The Sixth Circuit said the employer handled it exactly right. Continue reading

A recent Eleventh Circuit decision highlights that offering reassignment instead of extending medical leave can be a reasonable accommodation under the ADA when the reassignment fits the employee’s restrictions and the circumstances. The court said the employer acted lawfully by offering another available position rather than more leave, which the employee declined. Continue reading