Disability

EEOC takes on fitness-for-duty medical releases; how to avoid the crosshairs.

September 10, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Congratulations!

Your fitness-for-duty employee medical examinations are job-related or consistent with business necessity. So, they pass muster under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But, what about the medical information you request from employees in connection with those exams?

Oh yeah, there’s that too…

Ask for too much info and you might you be violating not only the ADA, but also the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act.

Rut roh! More after the jump…

* * *

Apparently, the ADA requires accommodating an employee’s anger issues with a Shih Tzu named “Sugar Bear”

September 8, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Hey, I don’t make this stuff up. I just blog about it.

More after the jump…

* * *

Yes, you can fire an employee who discloses a disability at his termination meeting

August 21, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Filed under: duh!

An employer-defendant argued that cancer — CANCER!!! — is not an ADA disability

August 13, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

How do you think that worked out? (I’ve got a pretty good guess too).

After the jump, let’s see if we’re right.

* * *

Court says having to pee uncontrollably is not an ADA disability

August 8, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

~~Talk about a pissed-off plaintiff.~~

I’ll be here all week. (Thank God it’s Friday).

More on this interesting Americans with Disabilities Act decision after the jump…

* * *

Guess why dude lost his ADA failure-to-accommodate claim. (Hint: he didn’t ask for one).

August 7, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

When the new amendments to the the Americans with Disabilities Act took effect in 2009, the law became more employee-friendly by expanding the definition of what constitutes a disability.

That said, the law doesn’t (yet) require an employer to have a sixth sense about whether a disabled employee requires a reasonable accommodation.

Generally, an employee has to ask for it. Or, as we find out after the jump, an ADA failure-to-accommodate lawsuit is pretty much doomed.

* * *

FACT OR FICTION: The ADA requires all employers to offer light duty.

August 1, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

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.”

Peep this ADA failure-to-accommodate case. Plaintiff is disabled and requests light duty. However, the evidence presented showed that there were no light duty positions available and the plaintiff presented no evidence to the contrary.

In denying the plaintiff’s ADA claim, the court underscored that it’s the plaintiff’s burden to show that a requested reasonable accommodation exists and is available. Otherwise, my friends, if it’s not available, then it’s not reasonable.

Disclosing an employee’s medical info on Facebook is hella-stupid

July 31, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Plus, it may violate the Americans with Disabilities Act too.

How one company’s alleged blunder turned into an ADA lawsuit and a blog post at https://www.theemployerhandbook.com…after the jump…

* * *

Requesting an accommodation means more than saying, “I’m disabled.”

July 22, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

My cold, black employment-law heart is numb to just about anything.

I remember this one time, early in my career, when I had to depose a teenage female plaintiff and ask her, with her mother present in the room, whether it offended her that her alleged male sexual harasser wanted to have a threesome with her and her mother.

Back then, it seemed salacious. Now, it’s like, whatever. Most of this stuff just rolls off of my shoulders.

Court: No need to accommodate employee who shows up drunk on Mike’s Hard Lemonade

July 17, 2014 | by Eric B. Meyer

Hey there, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

This Americans with Disabilities Act failure-to-accomodate opinion right here. You had me at “Ortiz reported to work on April 5, 2010, carrying one empty and three full cans of ‘Mike’s Hard Lemonade’ (an alcoholic beverage), along with raw meat.”

I may borrow that line for my Hangover Part IV treatment. It stars Zach Galifianakis and the rest of the crew — cameos by Pee Wee Herman, Octomom, and Peter Dinklage (as Tyrion Lannister) — and centers around the hi-jinx that ensue after the boys get blackout drunk following Alan’s nephew’s bris.