Offering Practical Guidance to Employers
An employer’s email to a “no call/no show” employee asking “what is going on” is not a “medical inquiry” under the ADA, according to the 7th Circuit.eeoc v. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (7th Cir. Nov. 20. 2012).
The Court rejected the EEOC’s argument that the word “inquiries” in the “Medical Examinations and Inquiries” section…
Add another multi-million dollar settlement notch to the EEOC’s “inflexible leave” belt. The EEOC announced that national trucking company Interstate Distributor Company will pay $4.85 million to resolve a nationwide class disability discrimination lawsuit the EEOC had brought against Interstate.
The lawsuit alleged that Interstate had a policy of terminating employees who needed more than…
When an employee cannot perform the essential functions of his or her position, with or without an accommodation due to a disability, an employer must consider “the accommodation of last resort”—transfer to a vacant lateral or lower position for which the employee is qualified.
Circuit courts had been evenly divided on whether an individual with…
We posted recently about an Eighth Circuit decision in which the court held that rotating shifts was an essential function because “[i]f [plaintiff] were switched to a straight day shift and not required to work the rotating shift, then other Resource Coordinators would have to work more night and weekend shifts.”
Another court has…
Recall our post concerning the claims of the acrophobic bridge worker and incontinent court reporter that rotating through job assignments was not an essential function of their jobs. Now comes a “Resource Coordinator” seeking a straight day shift as an accommodation to her disability and claims that working rotating shifts is not an essential function…
The question frustrating employers for decades remains: how much leave, beyond FMLA and employer policies, must an employer give a disabled employee as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA? More than a year after the EEOC hosted a public hearing on this topic, raising hopes that guidance may be forthcoming, only to have those hopes dampened…
The Ninth Circuit ruled today in James v. City of Costa Mesa, that the Americans with Disabilities Act does not protect medical marijuana users who claim they are subject to discrimination on the basis of their marijuana use. The Court concluded that doctor-recommended marijuana use permitted by state law, but prohibited by federal law, is…
The extent of an employer’s obligation to extend leave and excuse absences as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA is perhaps the most vexing ADA issue for employers. In June 2011, the EEOC held a public hearing on leave as a reasonable accommodation, and suggested it might issue guidance on the topic in 2011. When…
An ADAAA “rule of construction” is that an episodic impairment is a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active. A Missouri federal district court has held that whether an employee with an episodic impairment is a qualified individual with a disability is also determined when the impairment is active. The court…
When a 527 pound employee at a residential drug and alcohol treatment center was terminated, she filed an ADA charge with the EEOC, claiming her severe obesity was the reason. She died while her charge was pending. The EEOC sued her former employer and the parties have resolved the lawsuit with a Consent Decree. EEOC…
