Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently permitted a disabled nurse to proceed to trial on her claim that the termination of her employment constituted disability discrimination. The court based its decision on a factual dispute over the physical requirements of the nurse’s job, her employer’s apparent failure to consider potential accommodations for her disability, and […]
Employers often struggle with the Americans Disabilities Act’s (ADA) requirement to provide leave as a reasonable accommodation for an employee with a disability. How much leave is required? Is it ever okay to terminate an employee who requests leave? In a recent decision, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals provides some solid answers to employers […]
Although disability-based harassment/hostile work environment claims have been recognized by the courts for a while, they aren’t very common. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit—which covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas—recently rejected an employee’s claim of disability-based harassment under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), finding her employer’s good-faith efforts to engage in […]
A federal district court remanded the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) wellness program rules, finding it unclear how the rules’ 30% threshold met the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) requirement that wellness programs be “voluntary.”
It’s no secret that discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims based on disability cost employers plenty—and it’s not just the dollars awarded in damages (although, admittedly, some jury awards are eye-popping). It’s the expense of litigation. It’s the time employers must spend defending claims. It’s the bad publicity for the company. It’s the damage to employee […]
Employees with qualifying disabilities may rely on a service and/or emotional support animal for a variety of reasons, and allowing them to do so at work may be considered a “reasonable accommodation” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), provided the task performed by the animal is needed in the workplace, it’s directly related to […]
I know this sounds like a contradiction, but a Dallas court recently said it wasn’t. So, a Texas employer can be cleared of firing an employee because of his disability—despite the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)—but still be liable for failing to provide a reasonable accommodation. The Dallas office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission […]
Supervisors and managers with the best of intentions say the worst possible things. Some are said out of concern and some out of a desire to “act like a manager.” But they’re all dangerous. Here’s a rogues’ gallery of 7 of the most troublesome.
A recent decision from the Iowa Court of Appeals should cause Iowa employers to hit pause on routine decisions relating to workers’ compensation claimants. The decision, Vetter v. Iowa Department of Natural Resources, effectively dismantled the definition of “disability” for disability discrimination claims.
An employee with a disability must demonstrate that he is able to perform the essential functions of his job, with or without reasonable accommodations, in order to be protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But what exactly does “essential functions” mean? What are the essential functions of a particular job, and who determines […]