Several years ago I was searching for a framework that would keep me from getting lost in the complexities of a request for accommodation. I assisted a colleague in dealing with a request that was surrounded by “drama talk”. We’ve all experienced drama,...
The border between the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title I (ADA) is an interesting landscape. In some ways it resembles the Four Corners National Monument near Teec Nos Pos, Arizona:...
I sit here shaking my head. I continue to be astonished that many of America’s city and county governments do not get ADA Title I. This week two cases were brought to my attention. One is a constructive discharge (fired) threat based on...
A standard best practice of medium to large companies is the assessment of risk in advance of an event. A basic precept of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and specifically Title I, is an individual’s right to not disclose one’s...
A recent settlement in the Joy Underground Mining case is a wake up call for employers who retain physicians or therapists to conduct medical examinations and employment tests. Specifically, the details of the case remind us all to...
I’ve been thinking about the physician’s role in the reasonable accommodation process with the decision making role of the employer. While the physician inarguably contributes to identification of an ADA qualifying impairment, a...
The line-up for our 2016 Reasonable Accommodation webinar series on the Americans with Disabilities Act has been set. Up first is a look back at the year 2015 federal lawsuits and EEOC settlements that shape how we will practice under...
Eight former employees of the New York-based Suffolk Laundry Services, Inc. will share a $582,000 settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Adding to the cost of the...
I often fly Southwest Airlines through the Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) on my way to Love Field (DAL) in Dallas. The next time I do, I’ll drop by the Dunkin’ Donuts in Baltimore and the Shipley’s Do-Nuts in Dallas to...
In October, 2015, I wrote a blog about reasonable accommodation in a plant where everyone on the production floor had the same job title; because all workers operated under one title, they each shared the same list of essential functions. The idea was...
