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The Employer Handbook BlogThere’s no bright-line rule or magic words needed for employees to request workplace accommodations.
See what you think of this. Continue reading
Articles Posted in Discrimination and Unlawful Harassment
An employer that refuses to accommodate an employee’s disability can still win an ADA lawsuit. Here’s how.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for a qualified individual with a disability unless doing so will impose an undue hardship on its business. A plaintiff who claims that their employer failed to accommodate them must initially establish that they could perform the position’s essential functions and that the employer refused to provide an accommodation.
Most courts have found that an employer’s good faith attempt to accommodate is insufficient. However, those courts will not impose liability unless the plaintiff establishes an alternative reasonable accommodation. Continue reading
Got an age discrimination claim? It’s not that hard to plead one in court.
A plaintiff claiming age discrimination at work must ultimately prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that age was the ‘but-for’ cause of whatever adverse employment action the plaintiff claims to have suffered.
However, a recent Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision reminds us that merely pleading allegations of age discrimination is easy, like Sunday morning. Continue reading
Today’s letter of the day is “P,” as in “Pretext”
In employment discrimination cases where a defendant-employer articulates a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employment action, the plaintiff has the burden then shifts to the plaintiff-employee to establish that the employer’s reason was a pretext for discrimination, i.e., the defendant’s reason for, say, terminating the plaintiff’s employment is false. Continue reading
If your company handles military leave for employees this way, you may be doing it all WRONG
Yesterday, a federal appellate court issued a precedential opinion clarifying when employers must pay employees and provide certain benefits while they take short-term military leave under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”).
Supervisors playing doctor — unless they’re doctors — is a bad idea
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently issued two press releases: one announcing a disability discrimination lawsuit and another about a recent settlement of age and disability discrimination claims. Both involve supervisors who allegedly thought they knew more than medical professionals.
They were wrong. Continue reading
Can a single incident that the plaintiff doesn’t witness create a hostile work environment?
A single incident, like a supervisor calling a black employee the “n” word, may be enough to create a hostile work environment. But what if the victim doesn’t witness it? Continue reading
Let’s update you on some recent NJ employment law developments
The New Jersey Supreme Court has weighed in not once but twice this month on important employment law issues. So, if you operate a business in the Garden State, I’ll bring you up to speed on that, plus some new pending legislation.
(For the rest of you, have a nice weekend, and maybe add some pork roll or Taylor Ham to your breakfast sandwich.) Continue reading
Retaliation can come in all shapes and sizes
Earlier this month, a federal appellate court addressed a few situations involving retaliation claims in the workplace in which parties (and sometimes courts) may misapply the law, namely, Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964.
So, let’s clear this up. Continue reading
Court: Denying coverage for gender-affirming care to transgender employees is sex discrimination
If your business provides a self-funded health insurance plan to its employees, that health plan covers “medically necessary” services, and you’re not keen on defending sex discrimination claims, then keep reading. Continue reading