Disability

The readers have three follow-up ADA questions about job applications. Let’s answer them.

April 19, 2019

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On Wednesday, I blogged, “If your job applications look anything like this, well, damn, you’ve got some ADA problems.”

“This” was a medical questionnaire that inquired about certain medical conditions, whether the employee had an impairment or disability, and whether the employee had previous surgery or received a permanent disability rating.

In other words, questions that were designed to elicit information about whether an individual has a disability.

Not surprisingly, readers asked some good follow-up questions about related ADA issues; stuff that wasn’t part of the low-hanging fruit that the EEOC plucked when it sued the employer with the bad medical questionnaire.

For everyone’s benefit, let’s address those questions today. Continue reading

If your job applications look anything like this, well, damn, you’ve got some ADA problems.

April 17, 2019

by Eric B. Meyer

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I remember once I had a colleague asked me to review an addendum to a job application for a client to make sure it was all good and legal.

It wasn’t.
Continue reading

Does an employee have an ADA ‘disability’ if it substantially limits the major life activity of ‘working’?

April 16, 2019

by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pexels.com (https://www.pexels.com/photo/working-in-a-group-6224/)

Ever since the amendments to the Americans with Disability Act took effect in 2009, management-side employment lawyers have preached to clients that they should focus more on accommodating a disability rather than whether an employee has a disability in the first place.

But, what if you have an employee who seeks an accommodation — time off — for a condition that she claims impacts her ability to work?

Hmmm…

285,000 reasons that your company president shouldn’t ridicule an employee with a disability. Especially not in email.

April 15, 2019

by Eric B. Meyer

Lorimar Productions/NBC [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In 1976, Sally Field played Sybil in the eponymous TV movie. Sybil was a teacher who suffered a breakdown in front of her students, only to be diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. Throughout the movie, Sybil exhibits multiple personalities — 16 in all.

Some may even consider Sybil to be ‘crazy.’

Or at least someone with a mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities a/k/a a disability. Continue reading

Looks can be deceiving. Morbid obesity isn’t necessarily a disability.

April 8, 2019

by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Photofunia.com (http://photofunia.com/results/5ca8a63b846d788d968b457e) (What a strange thing to write on a window.)

Even in New Jersey, where employment law is ‘Mister Rogers’ friendly to employees. Continue reading

Another New Jersey court weighs in on MedMar accommodations…and it’s WILD!

April 1, 2019

by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/en/marijuana-scales-legalization-drugs-2754249/)

The case is called Wild v. Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc. So, yeah, it’s “Wild.”

And so as not to bury the lede, the court concluded that the plaintiff, a medical marijuana user, could pursue discrimination claims under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (the LAD) against his employer. Continue reading

Fact or Fiction: Can an employee pursue a hostile work environment claim based on his disability?

March 28, 2019

by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/question-mark-note-duplicate-457454/)

That’s right folks. It’s time for another edition of “Fact or Fiction” a/k/a “Quick Answers to Quick Questions” a/k/a QATQQ f/k/a “I don’t feel like writing a long blog post.”

It’s your fault that this post is so short. Continue reading

EEOC: A company that helps people with disabilities violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

March 26, 2019

by Eric B. Meyer

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Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think? Continue reading

A pharmacist claims that his employer should have accommodated his fear of needles. And he may be right.

March 18, 2019

by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/photos/syringe-medical-finger-957260/)

Over the weekend, I read a recent federal appellate court opinion about a pharmacist who alleged that his former employer discriminated against him by failing to accommodate his fear of needles. Continue reading

This parking company may have assumed that a deaf applicant wasn’t right for a valet job. But, what happens when you assume? 🤔

February 28, 2019

by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/vectors/attendant-car-parking-service-148647/)

Imagine that you operate a valet parking service at a large hotel and you’re looking to hire a parking attendant. Your 10 am interview arrives. You say, “good morning.” He responds in sign language.

He’s deaf.

A deaf parking attendant?!?