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Articles Posted in Disability
EEOC claims four HR employees facilitated two acts of disability bias against the same person
The Americans with Disabilities Act makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a qualified applicant or employee with a disability. According to a lawsuit that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed yesterday, an employer did both.
To the same individual. Continue reading
The ADA may require accommodations for alcoholics. But it can get tricky when police are involved.
Yes, alcoholism can be a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Continue reading
Sometimes, the only reasonable accommodation is one where the employee doesn’t work.
Yesterday, we talked about how workplace accommodations that enable an employee to remain at work (and get paid) are generally better than ones that require time off, like an unpaid leave of absence.
But sometimes, there’s only one option. Continue reading
Is do-it-yourself dialysis at work an ADA reasonable accommodation? The EEOC thinks so.
I’ve practiced law for over twenty years, mainly as an employment lawyer. In that time, I’ve lost track of the number of times that I’ve counseled employers on their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some of those have involved accommodating employees with end-stage renal disease and adjusting work schedules to allow for dialysis appointments.
But, an accommodation request to perform dialysis at work? That’s a new one.
Thank you, EEOC, for this new ADA visual disabilities in the workplace guidance document
Yesterday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released a new technical assistance document called “Visual Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act.”
Sure, you could read all 59 pages of it. Or I can digest it here for you in a few hundred words—your choice. Continue reading
If you hire someone who says they are in a drug treatment program, don’t do this…
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination based on a disability concerning employment. That includes refusing to hire someone based on an actual disability, a perceived disability, or a record of disability.
Whether an employer regards a job applicant as having a disability or learns about a record of a disability, an employer cannot lawfully refuse to hire them because they are receiving addiction treatment — even if that means the individual is currently in a methadone maintenance program.
Indirect consequences of not accommodating disabilities at work can land employers in hot water
Yesterday, we discussed how an employee asserting a failure-to-accommodate claim under Title VII must establish that their request for a religious accommodation resulted in an adverse employment action. The same appellate court deciding that case also recently confirmed that the same maxim applies to failure-to-accommodate claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
But, there’s a rub. Continue reading
A employee in Puerto Rico needed an accommodation to avoid the humidity. Ok.
I’m neither a doctor nor a meteorologist but an employment lawyer. And, like the First Circuit Court of Appeals in this recent decision, I struggle with what the employer in Puerto Rico could have done differently to accommodate one of its workers. Continue reading
Even in one of the most employee-friendly states, COVID-19 isn’t necessarily a disability
Near the beginning of the pandemic, an employee in New Jersey reported to work but felt ill; specifically, he felt “cold, clammy, and weak.” After going home, the employer told him not to return until he tested for COVID-19. The next day, the plaintiff went to a free clinic where he obtained a COVID-19 test. While waiting for the results, the employee reported to his employer that he felt better, and offered to return to work, maintaining social distance from others. The employer fired him instead.
Is this disability discrimination? Continue reading