Archives: Disability Accommodation

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Flesh Eating Bacteria Ate My Homework

By Daniel P. Schwarz on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation, FMLA
If you’re like most folks, you’ve been wondering “when am I going to see a story mentioning both flesh eating bacteria and reasonable accommodation.” Wonder no more. Gary Brunckhorst worked for the City of Oak Park Heights Minnesota for more than fifteen years. In April 2014, he was serving as the Senior Accountant/Payroll Technician (Senior … Continue Reading

Employers Asserting “Essential Job Function” Defense Need a Clear Job Description.

By Daniel P. Schwarz on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation
Just a few months ago, we wrote about a case where a federal district court denied summary judgment to an employer who had asserted that attendance at work was an essential job function. The Court held that although regular attendance at work was set out in the job description, that was not enough to obtain … Continue Reading

Plaintiff Lacks Standing to Claim Website Violates ADA Where It Does Not Impede Ability to Access Physical Location of the Business

By Tasos C. Paindiris on Posted in: ADA - Title III, Disability Accommodation
With the rise in lawsuits under Title III of the ADA regarding accessibility of websites, Courts have been framing how such claims fit into the law’s requirements for accessibility at places of public accommodation.  The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently provided additional clarification in Gomez v. Knife Management, LLC (S.D. Fla. … Continue Reading

Another Court Decides That Extended Leave is Not a Reasonable Accommodation

By Tasos C. Paindiris on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation, FMLA, Leave
As employers struggle with managing how much, if any, leave is required as an accommodation under the ADA, we are beginning to get more direction from the Courts to guide those decisions. In Easter v. Arkansas Children’s Hospital (E.D. Ark. Oct. 3, 2018) an employee was unable to work after exhausting her FMLA leave but … Continue Reading

You Can’t Always Get What You Want: Employers Don’t Have to Provide an Accommodation Requested by an Employee if There Are Other Reasonable Alternatives

By David S. Mohl on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation, EEOC Guidance, Leave
A recent Third Circuit case, Sessoms v. Trs. Of the Univ. of Pa., 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 16611 (3rd Cir. June 20, 2018), serves as a reminder that while the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees, it does not obligate an employer to provide the accommodation requested … Continue Reading

District Courts in the Seventh Circuit Begin to Clarify Landmark Severson Decision

By Jody Kahn Mason on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation, Leave
As we have previously reported, on September 20, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a significant ruling for employers in Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc., 872 F.3d 476 (7th Cir. 2017), when it held that an multi-month, non-FMLA leave of absence is not a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Declines Review of ADA Leave Obligations

By Whitney P. Cooney on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation, Leave
Sometimes the actions a court doesn’t take can have a very big impact. The Supreme Court’s April 2, 2018 decision not to review a recent Seventh Circuit ruling is just one of the cases. In Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc., a widely-publicized decision relating to the availability of extended leave as a reasonable accommodation under … Continue Reading

FMLA And ADA Claims Put To Bed Where Employer Did Not Know Employee Had Sleep Apnea At The Time Her Employment Was Terminated.

By Daniel P. Schwarz on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation, FMLA
Sometimes what you don’t know can help you. In Guzman v. Brown County, a 911 Dispatcher who was fired after being late repeatedly had her FMLA interference and retaliation claims sent to dreamland by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The Appeals court held that the moribund claim should stay that way because the Dispatcher … Continue Reading

Donations Not Accepted – ADA Does Not Require Continued Use of Leave Donation Program

By Tasos C. Paindiris on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation, Leave
Many employers have programs allowing employees to donate their own time off to another employee with serious medical or family issues.  A dilemma often faced by employers with these policies is whether continued use of such donated time means the employee is not performing the essential function of attendance.  On the one hand, the employee … Continue Reading

Alabama Court Decides an Individual with a Partially Amputated Foot is not Disabled Under the ADA

By Tasos C. Paindiris on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) made a number of significant changes to the definition of “disability.” Much of the change had to do with making it easier for an individual to establish that he or she has a disability within the meaning of the statute.  As a result employers have been accepting many … Continue Reading

Extending Leave Was Not A Reasonable Accommodation Under The ADA Where There Was A Lack Of “Certainty” About Return To Work Date

By Tasos C. Paindiris on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation, FMLA, Leave
While employers generally accept that they cannot apply a maximum leave period after which employees are automatically terminated, they continue to struggle with how much leave must be provided as a form of accommodation under the ADA.  There is little dispute that leave for an indefinite period where the employee has a long term chronic … Continue Reading

Seventh Circuit Holds that the ADA Is Still Not a Leave Statute

By Jody Kahn Mason on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation, Leave
On October 17, 2017, on the heels of its landmark decision in Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, the Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the employer in its unpublished opinion in Golden v. Indianapolis Housing Agency, No. 17-1359 (7th Cir. Oct. 17, 2017), reiterating that “[a]n employee who needs long-term medical leave…is not a ‘qualified … Continue Reading

Seventh Circuit Clarifies ADA is Not a Leave Statute

By Jody Kahn Mason on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation, EEOC Guidance, Leave
On September 20, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a significant opinion for employers in Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc., No. 15-3754 (7th Cir. Sept. 20, 2017), holding that “[t]he ADA is an antidiscrimination statute, not a medical-leave entitlement.”  The Seventh Circuit joins the Tenth Circuit in rejecting the EEOC’s … Continue Reading

Leaving Defenses On The Table In Drafting Employee Handbooks And Posting Notices

By Tiffany A. Buckley-Norwood on Posted in: ADA, Disability Accommodation
While off-the-shelf employee handbooks can be cost-efficient in the short-term, sometimes they leave important employer defenses on the table.  This is particularly true for state-specific defenses.  For example, while most Michigan employers know it is best to include a reporting procedure for harassment in their employee handbook, many do not know that Michigan’s Persons with … Continue Reading
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