Archived Blogs
Lowe’s Settlement Highlights the Importance of “Withdrawal of an In-Place Reasonable Accommodation”
This $55,000 settlement reminds reasonable accommodation program managers of the need to sign-off on pending adverse employment decisions initiated by line supervisors.
EEOC Sues Colorado Trucking Company Over Post-Offer Testing Process
EEOC Sues Colorado Trucking Company Over Post-Offer Testing Process - Blog #69 Trucking firm JBS Carriers, based in Greeley, Colorado violated federal law by using pre-employment screening procedures that improperly screen out truck driving job applicants on the basis...
Isokinetic Strength Test Triggers $3,200,000 Settlement
Chainsaws don't hurt people, people do. And isokinetic strength and aerobic capacity tests don't discriminate against people, work evaluators do. The June 13, 2018 announcement of a consent decree between the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)...
Physician Impairment Diagnosis Versus Work Disability and Reasonable Accommodation
This situation was raised on December 4, 2017, by a client in a large mid-west medical center. A nurse has a note from his primary care physician indicating that he should work the day shift because of impairments (i.e., not disabilities) related to anxiety,...
Colorado and Tennessee Tie for Failure to Accommodate – Walmart Notches Largest Settlement
Failure to provide reasonable accommodation to a prospective, conditional, or current employee under Title 1 of the Americans with Disabilities Act emanates from a shortlist of possible missteps. Training line managers and executives to recognize a request for accommodation is the first step in avoiding significant settlements.
Review recent federal suits and settlements of from $1,250,000 to $5,200,000.
The Use of Evidence of the Essential Functions of a Job to Address Obesity as a Disability
This blog suggests an alternative to arguing the definition of impairment and disability in the context of an employment discrimination claim based on “regarded as disabled.” The alternative is to focus on the “Qualified Individual” status of the employee with whom the employer has safety or productivity concerns. Apprehension involving direct threat, decreased productivity, inability to respond to an emergency, or the need for reasonable accommodation each are addressed under the Qualified Individual section of the code.
Gucker v U.S. Steel – Functional Capacity Evaluation Implications
The ADA Title I Medical Examination Specialist (T1MES) designation recognizes the individual who has acquired the knowledge, skill, experience, training, and education to design and administer a medical examination as defined in 42 U.S. Code § 12112 – Discrimination (d) medical examinations and inquiries.
Mercedes-Benz Dealership’s $5,000,000 Lesson – Blog #70
Seattle Dealership's $5,000,000 Lesson - Blog #70 The October federal court settlement in a Seattle case presents another ‘go-giver’ opportunity for ergonomic evaluators, occupational therapists, and physical therapists. What Makes this a Go-Giver Moment? A...
Staffing Agency Faces Federal Charges Under ADA Title 1
Staffing Agency Faces Federal Charges Under ADA Title I - Blog #69 Reasonable Accommodation for the Hiring Process Perceived WORK-RELATED Disability Regarded As Agency Administered Employment Test Deemed "Too Slow" Unknown Physical Demands of the Essential Function in...
Municipal Worker with Two Disabilities
This blog post is based on a question from a participant in a recent webinar. “I have a situation where I performed an FCE (a one-day worker evaluation) on an individual who is a municipal worker. He has been on light duty for a biceps tendon repair, and...
Mitigating Workers’ Compensation Cost with ADA Title I Post-Offer Nerve Conduction Data
A colleague asked me to confirm the forensic value of nerve conduction data (NCD) harvested from a post-offer employment test (POET). He was specifically interested in sharing post-offer test data to apportion treatment and rehab costs in a State workers’...
A Physician, an Ergonomist, and a Functional Capacity Evaluator Walk Into a Juice Bar
I often feel like a tour guide as I walk my daily journey of answering questions about the roles of various professionals involved in return to work decisions under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. A week or so ago I received an inquiry from...
Physician-Vendor Ignorance of the ADA Title I Leads to Another Federal Lawsuit
Oilfield Instrumentation, USA, Inc., an oilfield services company operating in at least 6 states, is another in a long line of employers ill-served by a medical examination vendor’s lack of fidelity to Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In...
Shining a Light on Fit-for-Duty
Fitness-for-Duty Vendor Entangles Cummins Power in Title 1 and GINA Trap Here is another cautionary tale for employers who hire outside medical professionals to administer ADA Title 1 employment tests. Although occupational therapists, physical therapists,...
Terminated Without Accommodation
Sometimes you do all the right things and still end up with the short end of the stick. Glen Janisch, the human resource manager for Battle Creek’s RockTenn paper and packaging manufacturer stepped away from his desk to have open heart coronary...
Changing or Removing An In-Place Accommodation
An employer has the right to change work methods, production targets, and qualification standards as business necessity dictates. As the number of qualified individuals who have an in-place reasonable accommodation grows, those of us who manage these...
Nobody In My Department Works With Limitations
Nobody In My Department Works With Limitations... Albert E. Gucker was a 30-year veteran at U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works Tractor Shop. During 8 of those years he had a 30-pound lifting restriction imposed by company physicians. The presence of the restriction meant one of...
Human Resource Claim of Retaliation- It’s in the Details
A consent decree signed in Minneapolis this month seems to be the final chapter in the story of Human Resources Manager Patricia Lebens and her former employer. It’s a story of post-discharge reporting of possible employment discrimination, potential...
The One-Way Interactive Conversation
Part of the magic of the reasonable accommodation interactive process is the two-party conversation that takes place. The success of the conversation predicts the success of a mutually agreed upon solution. A difficult conversation points to a less...
A Skilled Surgeon Should Stay Out of the Forest
The temperature at dawn today was minus 18 degrees. My day today is about bringing in more firewood, working on an online curriculum for a new course, and writing a blog or two. The pleasant thing about splitting or moving firewood is that I get into...
