When an employer fails to participate in the interactive process of finding a workplace accommodation for an employee with a disability, that misstep can be used as evidence of discrimination. Such a failure is not, however, an ADA violation when…
Category Archives: Termination
New ADA Compliance Guidance Covers Cancer, Diabetes, Epilipsy and Intellectual Disabilities
May 20, 2013 – 11:38 am
The agency responsible for enforcing the Americans with Disabilities has revised several of its guidance documents to reflect recent changes to the law. The May 15 changes were necessary because of the ADA Amendments Act, which expanded the law’s coverage…
Employers Wise to Limit Job-related Calls to Employees on FMLA Leave
April 18, 2013 – 4:39 pm
Employers need to know what distinguishes a professional courtesy — let’s say having an occasional job-related phone discussion with an employee on leave — from crossing the line and interfering with an employee’s rights under the Family and Medical Leave…
Outback Steakhouse to Pay $65K for Firing Disabled Server
April 5, 2013 – 4:03 pm
Outback Steakhouse will pay $65,000 to a server it fired because of his traumatic brain injury, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The payment will settle a lawsuit EEOC filed on the server’s behalf. The commission alleged that John Woods…
Old ‘Disability’ Definition Applies to Employee’s Injury, Says 10th Circuit
March 29, 2013 – 4:22 pm
There is a growing legal precedent regarding when courts can evaluate an Americans with Disabilities Act claim under a new, broader disability definition: the adverse employment actions at issue must have occurred after the Jan. 1, 2009, effective date of…
Court Allows ADA Suit by Deaf Teachers’ Aide Replaced by Another to Continue
March 27, 2013 – 2:21 pm
Often, employees who believe they were fired because of their disability will show that they were replaced by an individual without a disability as evidence of discrimination. In one recent case, however, a district court has allowed a case in…
Key Wage-and-hour Language to Have in Your Employee Handbook
March 27, 2013 – 12:03 pm
To prevent the consequences from imprecise employee handbook language, employers should regularly review their handbooks and written policies. Since wage and hour lawsuits make up a significant part of litigation, W&H provisions can make a difference as you draft or…
Inpatient Treatment for Alcoholism Protected Under ADA, FMLA
March 18, 2013 – 12:11 pm
Courts generally agree that an employee suffering from alcoholism has “a physical or mental impairment” — and, hence, a disability protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. While an employer can deny employment to, discipline or discharge an alcoholic whose use…
Comfort Inn Settles Pregnancy Discrimination Suit for $27k
March 18, 2013 – 10:28 am
The owner of a Comfort Inn & Suites franchise will pay $27,500 to settle claims that it discriminated against an employee because she was pregnant. The case reminds employers to keep in mind that the law prohibits discrimination against pregnant…
Court Remands Case on Accommodating Tardiness to Lower Court
March 8, 2013 – 11:06 am
An employer may have to tolerate an employee’s constant tardiness if it is caused by a disability, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals indicated March 4 in McMillan v. City of New York, No. 11-3932 (March 4, 2013). The…