Disability

Fact or Fiction: Pregnancy is a disability under federal employment law

September 1, 2011 | 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”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAY06SYDjH0

The answer to today’s question is fiction. Pregnancy is not a “disability” for purposes of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To be considered a disability under the ADA, covered persons must actually have physical or mental impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities. Pregnancy is not considered an impairment under the law.

This is why you document employee workplace issues

August 16, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Management-side employment lawyers preach it until they are blue in the face: companies should always document employee performance and disciplinary issues.

Why is this so important? A real-world example follows after the jump…

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Fact or Fiction: Miniature horse = reasonable ADA accommodation

July 21, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Welcome back to “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”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFLJFl7ws_0

So, is a miniature horse a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act? Maybe.

Welcome to the Employment Law Blog Carnival: Jukebox edition!

July 20, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

The Employment Law Blog Carnival has finally rolled into town.

What is a blog carnival? It is a collection of links on a particular topic — here, employment law — that bloggers have submitted to me, which I then arrange around a particular theme.

For this edition of the Carnival, it’s DJ-ESkeelz on the one and two, with a music-themed employment-law blog carnival. I’ve got 13 hot joints (read: 13 links to employment-law articles from some of the blogosphere’s best…)

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Job candidate bolts from a drug test; sues for disability bias

July 8, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:

Job candidate is told that any job offer is contingent upon passing a drug test.

On d-day, job candidate bolts from the drug-testing facility, claiming that he has trouble in confined spaces.

No drug test means that job candidate is disqualified from the position.

Job candidate sues claiming a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act for failure to accommodate.

Folks, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried. Just another day in the life of an employment lawyer.

After you hit the jump, you’ll find out whether the job candidate prevailed…

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Can a bridge worker with a fear of heights have a viable ADA claim?

June 24, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

Today, I get to sleep in because The Employer Handbook has a guest blogger. It’s Andrew Kim, a summer associate at Dilworth Paxson LLP:

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Some people have no problem with heights (as seen above). But Darrell Miller, a bridge worker, had acrophobia (a.k.a. the fear of heights). In fact, Mr. Miller had suffered a panic attack due to that very fear while working on the bridge crew for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). He then sought a reasonable accommodation so that he wouldn’t have to work on big bridges. IDOT refused. Did it violate the Americans with Disabilities Act?

Find out after the jump . . .

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What to know about providing disabled employees time off work

June 15, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination in the workplace against disabled individuals. By law, if an employer knows that an employee or applicant is disabled, it must reasonably accommodate the known disability, if doing so would not impose an “undue hardship” on the operation of the employer’s business. There are many types of reasonable accommodations, from modifying facilities to reassignment to a vacant position.

Leave from work may also be a reasonable accommodation. But how much? And how much is too much?

Find out, after the jump…

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Court dismisses the age bias claims of a pistol-packin’ old cripple

May 26, 2011 | by Eric B. Meyer

A 51-year-old auto-parts specialist with lupus, fibromyalgia, diabetes and arthritis, claimed that his 29-year-old co-worker called him an “old cripple” and an “old man,” labeled him “too old to be trained,” and threatened to beat him with a baseball bat.

The 51-year-old responded by telling his manager that he would kick the 29-year-old’s ass and then came to work with a handgun in his car.

Wha Wha Whaaaaaat?!?!

Did the older employee overreact? Maybe. But was he the victim of a hostile work environment?

Find out after the jump.

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