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Tara K. Burke is the knowledge management (“KM”) attorney for Jackson Lewis P.C.’s Disability, Leave & Health Management practice group, and is based in the Cincinnati, Ohio, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She works with employers to build positive and inclusive workplaces and reduce legal risk through policy development, training, and employment law counseling.

Tara provides practical and legal advice to clients on employment law issues including harassment and discrimination prevention, diversity and inclusion, hiring and interviewing, internal investigations, disability accommodation and leave management, reductions in force, individual separations and employee relations issues. Tara works with clients, including multi-state employers, to identify the trends in workplace law and stay in compliance with the rapidly changing state-by-state legal landscape. Tara helps clients of all sizes and in all industries, create, revise and implement workplace policies and procedures including employee handbooks. She also routinely conducts workplace training for leadership, human resources, managers and employees on numerous topics including strong management practices that reduce legal risk and build effective teams, preventing sexual harassment by supporting respectful and positive workplaces, achieving winning results through diversity and inclusion, conducting investigations, and employee accommodations and leaves of absence.

Tara has defended employers in employment-related litigation and administrative proceedings.

In addition to working with for-profit clients, Tara also works with non-profit clients, including small non-profits, to provide employment law expertise to non-profit organizations supporting our communities across the country.

On April 15, 2025, the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota issued its decision granting partial summary judgment to the Catholic Benefits Association, on behalf of its members and the Bismarck Diocese (collectively the CBA).  The court found that the portions of the PWFA Final Regulations that require employers to reasonably

The Department of Justice (DOJ) withdrew 11 documents providing guidance to businesses on compliance with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (Title III). The DOJ Guidance sets forth how the agency interprets certain issues addressed by Title III of the ADA.  Although the guidance has been withdrawn, the law remains the same. Title

On the eve of the effective date of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) final Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) regulations (Final Rule), a federal court in Louisiana postponed the effective date of what the court describes as the “Final Rule’s requirement that covered entities provide accommodation for the elective abortions of employees that are

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued final regulations and Interpretative Guidance to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The PWFA went into effect on June 27, 2023. The PWFA requires that employers with at least 15 employees provide reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship, to qualified employees and applicants with known limitations related

It has been almost exactly four years since the COVID-19 pandemic changed the American working landscape. Many of us followed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through multiple changes and guidance, including from no mask, to mask, to no mask. On March 1, 2024, the CDC changed the isolation guidance for those with

Congress improperly passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, including the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), a federal court in Texas has ruled. State of Texas v. Department of Justice et al.No. 5:23-cv-00034 (N.D. Tex. Feb. 27, 2024). The court permanently enjoined the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Department of Justice from

We rang in the new year waiting and watching for the issuance of the EEOC’s final regulations implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA). The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) received the text of the final regulations for review on December 27.  Assuming that the EEOC’s final regulations clear this review, we expect

On August 11, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) formally published proposed regulations to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA).  In a matter of just under 9 months, since the law was enacted at the end of 2022, the EEOC crafted 275+ pages worth of regulations, preamble and interpretive guidance to

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new technical assistance document (“TAD”), “Visual Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act,” addressing how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to job applicants and employees with visual disabilities. Like the technical assistance the EEOC published earlier this year on hearing disabilities