Disability

“An employee who has suffered a heart attack has enough to deal with without having to face unlawful discrimination and unemployment.”

May 30, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

Continuing yesterday’s HR Compliance 101 theme, I revisited the EEOC Newsroom and found a recent release that addresses some considerations for when you have an employee that needs leave from work to treat for an illness.

Today’s lesson is a pragmatic and compassionate approach to providing accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Alcoholism and the ADA: Is it a disability? If so, how do you accommodate? And what are the limits?

May 8, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

TrafficJan82 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Oh, I thought you had the answers.

Fine, I’ll teach the class today. Continue reading

Did you miss yesterday’s #NextChat on Managing the Challenges of Leave Under the FMLA and ADA?

May 2, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: SHRM.org

Don’t worry about it. Continue reading

#Nextchat: My Employees Can Miss How Much Work?! Managing the Challenges of Leave Under the FMLA and ADA #SHRM19

April 30, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

Image Credit: SHRM.org

Last night, after the big Sixers win over the Raptors, I checked out the EEOC Newsroom to hunt for blog fodder for today.

That’s when I noticed that four of the five most recent EEOC press releases addressed claims of disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Continue reading

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

April 19, 2019 | by Eric B. Meyer

https://www.theemployerhandbook.com/files/2019/04/www.maxpixel.net-Request-Leave-Coolie-Writing-Tool-Pen-Application-1915347.jpg

Request Leave Coolie Writing Tool Pen Application (https://www.maxpixel.net/Request-Leave-Coolie-Writing-Tool-Pen-Application-1915347)

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

Request Leave Coolie Writing Tool Pen Application (https://www.maxpixel.net/Request-Leave-Coolie-Writing-Tool-Pen-Application-1915347)

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