On August 29, 2016, the California Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District reversed summary judgment earlier awarded to the employer in Castro-Ramirez v. Dependable Highway Express, Inc. In its reversal, the court found that an employer’s denial of accommodation to a nondisabled employee may be evidence of associational disability discrimination under the Fair
Jackson Lewis P.C.
Denying Receipt of FMLA Notices May be Enough to Survive Summary Judgment
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in FMLA
An employee’s denial of receipt of mailed FMLA notices can create an issue of fact for the jury, allowing FMLA claims to survive summary judgment, the Third Circuit held last week. Lupyan v. Corinthian Colleges, Inc., (3rd Cir. August 5, 2014).
The district court had previously granted summary judgment to Corinthian on Lupyan’s FMLA…
ADA Failure to Accommodate Claim Proceeds Despite Plaintiff’s Failure to Follow Employer’s Request Procedures
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
A plaintiff’s failure to accommodate claim under the ADA may proceed even though the plaintiff did not follow the employer’s accommodation request procedures, according to a Virginia federal district court. Martin v. Yokohama Tire Corporation (W.D.Va. November 12, 2013).
The plaintiff, a diabetic, alleged that his requests for time off for doctors’ appointments and when…
Toward a State Model Leave Law
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in Leave
Perhaps we should take a lesson from the UK. Faced with a “three-decade-old body of law, featuring nine antidiscrimination laws” which some described as “outdated, fragmented, inconsistent, inadequate, inaccessible, and at times incomprehensible,” a research team in 2000 recommended a single equality act, according to a recent Vanderbilt Law Review article. That single equality…
Court Punts on Expanding FMLA Coverage to Absences Not Covered by FMLA
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in FMLA
"Approved." Due to an email containing that single word, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals found itself addressing an FMLA issue that is somewhat of a paradox–whether to expand FMLA coverage to absences not covered by the FMLA…when an employer has approved FMLA leave for the uncovered absence. Put in a legal framework, the issue…
Fear of Firing May Be ADA Disability
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
Denying a school district summary judgment on the plaintiff’s ADA claim, a court held that plaintiff’s anxiety and depression, “likely stemming from her concerns about possibly getting fired,” may be a disability under the ADA. Huiner v. Arlington School District, (D.SD, Sept. 26, 2013).
The plaintiff, a teacher, had been placed on a performance…
Jersey City Adds Another Patch to the Paid Sick Leave Patchwork
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in Leave
And then there were seven. Seven patches in the developing “paid sick leave” patchwork that we presaged months ago. It started with San Francisco in 2007. Then the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Seattle, Portland, OR, and NYC . Now, add the Jersey City, N.J. patch.
The Jersey City variation…
Banning Employees from Providing Emergency Medical Services Banned in California
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in Health Management
A California employer may not prohibit an employee from providing voluntary emergency medical services, such as CPR, in response to a medical emergency, according to a law approved by the Governor last week.
The law has a few caveats. An employer may have a policy authorizing trained employees to provide those services but, even with…
A Déjà Vu Moment On Reasonable Accommodation
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
As I read and re-read the OFCCP’s14 points of guidance to employers interested in establishing a “best practice” reasonable accommodation program, Appendix B to the Section 503 regulations issued in August, I had a déjà vu moment. I kept thinking that I had previously read something remarkably similar to the 14 points.
It finally came…
With Flu Season Upon Us….
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in Health Management