The Employer Handbook Blog
In 2020, the Americans with Disabilities Act turns 30. President George H.W. Bush signed it into law in 1990 to ensure civil rights for individuals with disabilities. Chia-Yi Hou at The Hill published a nice 30-year ADA recap here.
Articles Posted in Disability
“Smokers and other nicotine users need not apply.” Is that even legal?
Because I’m a lawyer, I’ll say it depends. Except, I won’t charge you 0.1 hours of my time to say it. Continue reading
ADA accommodations don’t require eliminating essential job functions, like coming to work punctually.
Image Credit: https://freesvg.org/1550658029 (Public Domain)
Regular, in-person attendance is generally critical to performing one’s job. So, when an employee exhausts her twelve weeks of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act only to miss another 33 days of work (resulting in a 59% absentee rate), one’s job security may be in jeopardy.
But, let’s back up a sec, as I tell you the facts of this disability discrimination case I read last night. Continue reading
Can a demotion be a reasonable accommodation under the ADA?
Downturn Direction Banks Trend Down Symbol Arrow (Maxpixel.net: License to use Creative Commons Zero – CC0)
In the context of an employment discrimination lawsuit, when I think about a demotion, I’m also thinking of retaliation. Continue reading
2,650,000 more reasons to provide a chair to an employee with a disability who needs one
Image by Tariq Abro from Pixabay
I’m pretty sure that I’ve blogged about this before. But, maybe not. So, either what I’m about to tell you bears repeating, or I’m only going to say this once, so pay attention. Continue reading
Courts don’t second-guess non-discriminatory business decisions. Even the tough ones.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
There are times when employers have to make difficult decisions impacting the workplace. Today, I’m going to talk to you about one of them involving an employee who attempted suicide and, subsequently, pressed the company to return him to work.
You’re worried that an obese applicant may later develop diabetes. Can you refuse to hire him?
Renée Gordon (FDA), Victovoi [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The job required some fairly physical work; namely, climbing and working on and around heavy equipment. The company’s policy was not to hire anyone with a BMI of 40 or greater because of the “substantially higher risk of developing certain conditions like sleep apnea, diabetes, and heart disease and the unpredictable onset of those conditions can result in sudden incapacitation.” Given the job requirements, this could create an unsafe workplace. So, the company told the applicant that he was welcome to reapply later if he lost the weight and kept it off.
Instead, the applicant sued, alleging a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Continue reading
Can your business prevent Oscar from living in a trash can without violating the ADA?
Image Credit: Grouch (Joker Parody) – SNL (YouTube)
Let’s pretend that you operate a sanitation company. One of your employees — let’s call him ‘Oscar’ — tells you that he would like to take a multi-week sabbatical to learn more about his job and spend some time living in a trash can. Continue reading
No, a late request for a workplace accommodation doesn’t excuse prior performance issues
Image Credit: Photofunia.com (https://photofunia.com/results/5d92b3c0089f7a3a938b457d)
Often, when I present at HR events on reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, I’m asked about how to deal with disciplining employees who wait until after the performance issues arise and the progressive discipline follows to request an accommodation.
Specifically, do you have to excuse prior performance issues that may have been disability-related? The answer was no.
And based on this federal court opinion I read recently, the answer is still no. Continue reading
Four mistakes that you and your managers make when firing employees
sailko [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons