When a law, such as the ADA, restricts an employer’s rights to take reasonable, measured steps to promote workplace safety, it ought to be re-examined. Years ago, Justice Souter observed that preventing employers from considering "risk to self," an ADA rule many disability rights advocates had sought, would have put the ADA at "loggerheads" with federal OSHA policy requiring employers to ensure the
The ADA Patchwork Lives On!
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
As the ADA’s 20th anniversary nears, let’s revisit one of its lofty goals: to place a sweeping federal blanket over the patchwork of state and federal laws that protects individuals with disabilities.
A recent Second Circuit opinion leaves no doubt that the patchwork lives on In Spiegel v. Schulmann, decided on May 6, 2010, a…
The Accommodation of the Incontinent Court Reporter
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
Many reasonable accommodation cases are resolved in court but a court is not usually the defendant. But such was the case when a court reporter sued the Office of the Chief Judges of various Illinois circuit courts for failing to accommodate her incontinence.
A Case of Incompatible Reasonable Accommodations
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
Talk about a reasonable accommodation challenge. What is an employer to do when its accommodation of one employee’s medical condition triggers another employee’s medical condition? The New York Times reported recently that the City of Indianapolis faced such a situation recently and is now facing an EEOC “failure to accommodate” charge.
According to the Times…