Roy Matheson’s Blog
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Archived Blogs
EEOC vs Cessna – Invest in Understanding ADA Title I
Last month’s Cessna Aircraft settlement with the EEOC brings into focus many of the reasons I redirected my life’s work in rehabilitation and employment testing to focus on the challenges and benefits presented by Title I of the ADA. As I have said...
Managing Risk in ADA Title I
A friend and former colleague of mine who loved numbers was a keen observer of human behavior. He “came up” in the days of putting pencil to paper. I first met him in the year just after the Apple II was conceived. Visicalc may have resided in a future...
The ADA Title I Medical Examination Disconnect
Over the decades, and as recently as the May 16, 2007 hearing of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , the issue of employment testing under the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP) has focused on psychometric forms of...
New Physicians Responsibilities Under ADA Title I
I have written many times that, of the groups strongly affected by the 2008 revision to the Americans with Disabilities Act, physicians are the most overlooked. When I mix together my lay knowledge of the law, the outcome of recent federal court...
Removing the Drama in ADA Title I Accommodation
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 FMLA to ADA Title I Transition: Seeking a Stay-At-Work Medical Opinion
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:...
Revoking Accommodation?
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...
Wellness Programs Collide with Title I Right to Non-Disclosure
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...
GINA Settlement Affects Employment Testing Practices
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...
Reasonable Accommodation Meets Arbitrary and Capricious
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...
Review of ADAAA Actions Shaping 2016
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...
It’s Time To Come Clean About Sexual Harassment
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...
Not-So-Sweet EEOC Settlements Land Donut Companies in Hot Water
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...
Refusing or Denying Accommodation – Are You Being Reasonable?
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...
Cross-Training in the ADAAA Title I Environment
I recently received an interesting question during a support call; the issues are paraphrased below: “One issue that seems to come up at a couple employers I deal with is “cross jobs”. By this I mean, one job title is cross-trained in...
Accommodate or Terminate: Which Sounds Reasonable To You?
In some ways one would expect that each of us would be in touch with being civil to one another and, as an extension, encouraging access to the “civil” rights upon which our country has come to agree upon. The fact that we need...
Waive My Civil Right to Reasonable Accommodation?
As we grow our businesses, we miss some of the important little things that then become big things. I am no stranger to this fact of business life! Baltimore-based Media Star Promotions is a company that is “Committed to excellence,...
ADA Guidelines Job Applicants & Reasonable Accommodation Part IV
I have an applicant for a janitorial job who has extensive spine injuries. He is requesting that the employer provide a back belt upon hire for wearing at work. There is NIOSH research that shows that back belts are not proven to help prevent...
ADA Guidelines Job Applicants & Reasonable Accommodation Part III
I have an applicant for a janitorial job who has extensive spine injuries. He is requesting that the employer provide a back belt upon hire for wearing at work. There is NIOSH research that shows that back belts are not proven to help prevent...
ADA Guidelines: Job Applicants and Reasonable Accommodation Part II
I have an applicant for a janitorial job who has extensive spine injuries. He is requesting that the employer provide a back belt upon hire for wearing at work. There is NIOSH research that shows that back belts are not proven to help prevent...
