Tag: Reasonable Accommodation

EEOC issues new guidance on leave of absence and ADA accommodations

by Paige Hoster Good On May 9, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a new guidance document addressing the intersection of employer-provided leave of absence and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This document doesn’t create any new EEOC agency policy or propose any new law. Rather, it consolidates current guidance on the […]

EEOC Wants Feds to Provide Personal Assistants to Disabled

While the provision of a personal assistant generally has not been considered a “reasonable” accommodation required by disability nondiscrimination laws, federal employers may soon have to make such accommodations for workers with disabilities. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking scheduled to be published in the Federal Register Feb. 24, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission […]

7th Circuit Won’t Rehear United Airlines ADA Reassignment Case

An appeals court won’t rehear a case in which it ruled that United Airlines was not required to reassign a worker with a disability because that accommodation would have violated its collective bargaining agreement’s seniority policy. The court also held that the lower court properly dismissed the case because the employee failed to identify any […]

Littler Forecasts Top 10 EEOC Trends to Watch in 2016

Systemic investigations, hiring scrutiny and pregnancy discrimination are among the trends at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that employers should be looking out for in the coming year, according to attorneys at Littler Mendelson PC. A report issued by Littler analyzes and examines key statistics from the EEOC’s Performance and Accountability Report for fiscal […]

Human Resources lessons from NFL preseason football: employees returning to work after cancer treatment

For fans of Southeastern Conference football (and, I mean, who isn’t, right?), the name “Eric Berry” is one you don’t easily forget. Berry made his presence known as a defensive back for the Tennessee Volunteers from 2007-2009. Even though he played only three seasons in college, he was twice named a Defensive All American by […]

In ‘denial’: Alberta Court of Appeal revisits addiction in the workplace

by Hannah Roskey The Alberta Court of Appeal recently released its decision in Stewart v. Elk Valley Coal Corporation, a must-read for Canadian employers dealing with employee addiction issues. In lengthy reasons, a majority of the court agreed that there was no discrimination when an employee under the influence of cocaine was fired following a […]

Worker’s ADA Claim Fails Because Employer Treated Him ‘Reasonably’

A recent appeals court opinion illustrates that an employer that acts “reasonably” often will be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that an employer had fulfilled its duties under the ADA by providing an effective accommodation to an employee with a disability, even though it […]

Erratic Attendance Not a Reasonable ADA Accommodation

An employer is not required to alter its attendance policy to allow erratic, extended and indeterminate leave as a “reasonable accommodation,” according to a federal district court in Texas. Accordingly, the employer did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act when it fired an employee for violating the company’s attendance policy, the court ruled in […]

Accommodation Was Not Reasonable, So ADA Lawsuit Against Law Firm Fails

A law firm did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act by terminating an assistant who could no longer perform heavy lifting, a federal appeals court ruled. Heavy lifting was an essential function of the employee’s job and her inability to do so could not reasonably be accommodated, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals […]

Activity trackers and wellness programs: high-tech help or privacy threat?

What if an employer interested in improving the health of its employees—and reducing its health insurance premiums—could slap a device on workers to show statistics on physical fitness? Not only could the people participating in an employer-sponsored wellness program track their own progress, the employer also could see just how hard participants in its program […]