The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not protect employees from discrimination based on potential future disabilities, according to a recent ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. However, employers in other parts of the country should be more cautious. For example, federal courts in Illinois reached the opposite conclusion holding that … Continue Reading
Category Archives: Disability
Subscribe to Disability RSS FeedThe Human Touch of Web Accessibility
Automation is the way of the future . . . or so we thought. Make no mistake, the technology at our fingertips is powerful. As we increasingly rely on it, we lose human interaction and that presents its own risks. Even in the completely digital world of web accessibility, the human touch is essential. Companies should consider utilizing vendors who … Continue Reading
“When Do You Plan On Having A Baby?” And Other Questions Not To Ask
Employers interviewing women of child-bearing age may be tempted to ask about plans for having a baby, but doing so poses risks. While an employer might be concerned about staffing coverage, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against a woman based on her potential or capacity to become pregnant. Taking adverse action against … Continue Reading
Job Descriptions Can Be A Shield or Sword
Job descriptions can be a shield or a sword for employers. In addition to setting clear job expectations, informing candidates of what the job entails, and providing a framework for evaluations, they are often used in litigation arising from workplace claims.
Job descriptions can be critical in litigating actions under the Fair Labor Standard Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act … Continue Reading
New Year, New Wellness Program Rules
Employers with established wellness programs that collect health information and/or require a medical exam can no longer rely on the EEOC regulations to justify that incentives provided under their wellness programs are voluntary. On December 20, the EEOC published a final rule (83 Fed. Reg. 65296) vacating the rules that allowed employers to offer those financial incentives to … Continue Reading
If You Thought Website Accessibility Was Only for Your Customers—Think Again
Just how inclusive is your workplace? Do you use online applications? If visually impaired applicants cannot access your online application, chances are that your workplace fails to include these individuals. That means you could be both missing out on qualified applicants and making your business a target for claims.
Over the years, in an effort to simplify the processing of … Continue Reading
One Visit and Vague Plans to Return Not Sufficient to Allow ADA Access Claim
Businesses might see a ray of hope in a recent federal appellate court decision that rejected the ability of a wheelchair-bound patron and “tester” to pursue her claim against a property owner and shop in Cocoa Beach, Florida.
There is a veritable cottage industry of plaintiffs who bring claims against businesses, even those they have never visited. In an effort … Continue Reading
Website Accessibility Cases Proceed Despite Absence of Regulations
Recent trends indicate that ’tis always the season for web accessibility litigation, so with the new year, you should take a new look at your website. Businesses around the country, and especially in Florida, are discovering that their websites are within the crosshairs of visually impaired plaintiffs who, on contacting a business for assistance, may be told to visit a … Continue Reading
Disabled Access: A Chance to Fix Your Premises Before Being Sued?
New legislation seeks to level the playing field for businesses that have been targeted by “drive-by” claims alleging discrimination by customers with disabilities who may have never even gone to visit the place of public accommodation. Keep your fingers crossed.
Businesses frequently complain about “drive-by” lawsuits. Some courts have lamented the “cottage industry” that seems to have arisen under Title … Continue Reading
Dogged by Dogs at Work: Barking Up the Wrong Tree?
Suppose you hire Kristin Chenoweth to be your new TV show host, and she shows up on the set with her dog Thunder, claiming she needs the dog for emotional support. Must you allow this distraction?
Or suppose her third cousin shows up at your restaurant with Thunder’s twin bearing a “service animal tag,” yapping away and disturbing servers and … Continue Reading
It’s Audit Season: Have You Audited Your Website’s Accessibility?
Audit season is in full swing. Businesses now are working with auditors on their tax and other audits to ensure compliance with various financial regulations. But there is one audit that many businesses have yet to undertake and have continued to miss over the last few years: the accessibility of their website. Many businesses continued to be stunned when receiving … Continue Reading
Stress Claims Stressing Employers Out
Let’s face it: work can be stressful. So what’s an employer to do when an employee requests a stress-free or less stressful work environment as an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act? As always, it depends. While the ADA generally requires employers to engage in the interactive process to determine whether they can accommodate employees with disabilities, there occasionally … Continue Reading
Medical Marijuana and the Workplace
With the growing list of states legalizing marijuana, are workplace drug policies up in smoke? As the new year begins, Arkansas, Florida and North Dakota join the growing list of states that have legalized medical marijuana. Currently, 28 states* and Washington, D.C., have legalized marijuana use for certain medicinal purposes, and eight states** and the District of Columbia have legalized … Continue Reading
Expect More Mental Health Accommodation Requests – and More Paperwork for Healthcare Providers
Employers may see an uptick in requests for accommodations of mental disabilities, and healthcare providers may be asked to fill out yet more paperwork, as a result of two new publications issued by the EEOC last week.… Continue Reading
Catch-22 for Franchisors: The Joint Employment Dilemma
As government agencies steadily expand the concept of joint employment, franchisors increasingly find themselves in a difficult position. Since August 2015, when the NLRB ruled in Browning-Ferris that entities with the ability to exercise direct or indirect control over workers can be joint employers (prior blog post here), franchisors have experienced increased scrutiny from both federal agencies and the … Continue Reading
Employers Take Note, EEOC Issues Final Retaliation Guidance
Employers should review their policies concerning retaliation and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) interference in light of the new Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation published by the EEOC this week. As retaliation is now the most frequently alleged basis of discrimination, employers should take note. … Continue Reading
Zika and the Workplace: What Employers Must Know
With 413 Zika virus cases reported in 34 of Florida’s 67 counties as of August 15, it’s clear that it is spreading. Employers should take steps now to prepare for the impact. … Continue Reading
Double Trouble: EEOC Increases Penalty for Posting Violations
Employers might want to wander right now into their office break rooms to review the legal rights posters on display to be sure they are current and accessible. Failure to comply with posting requirements will cost employers more than double, starting next week.… Continue Reading
Effective Management of Employee Medical Issues in 2015
Compliance with the Family & Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act continues to cause issues for even the most experienced workplace professionals. In recent years, both the FMLA and ADA have expanded coverage for employee medical issues. For example, employees who are approved for FMLA-covered intermittent leave must be permitted to use that leave in one-hour increments … Continue Reading
EEOC Updates Guidance on Accommodating Pregnant Workers
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued revised pregnancy discrimination guidance setting forth a framework for assessing how far employers must go in accommodating pregnant employees, following the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year in Young v. United Parcel Serv., Inc. In that case, the Court held that, although a policy of providing light duty only to certain workers was … Continue Reading
Second Circuit Confirms That Providing “Effective” Reasonable Accommodation Sufficient Under ADA and NYS Law
In Noll v. Int’l Bus. Machs. Corp., 13-cv-4096 (2d Cir May 21, 2015), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals addressed the extent to which, under the ADA and New York State law, an employee must be provided with the precise accommodation he or she requests and whether, if the employer offers a different type of accommodation, its failure to … Continue Reading
Supreme Court Rules on, But Fails to Clarify, Pregnancy Discrimination Law
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act extends Title VII’s prohibition against sex discrimination to include pregnancy. It also says that employers must treat “women affected by pregnancy . . . the same for all employment-related purposes . . . as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work.” But what does this latter provision mean when … Continue Reading
Truck Driver With “Current” Diagnosis of Alcoholism Is Not Qualified Under the ADA
An alcoholic is a person with a disability and is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act if he is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job. But what if one of the essential functions of the job is not having a current diagnosis of alcoholism? That was the question posed recently by Jarvela v. Crete Carrier Corp.… Continue Reading
Reasonable Accommodations Under the ADA Do Not Require Changing a Job’s Essential Functions
Weldon Williams, a pharmacist, suffered from diabetes which limited his ability to stand for extended periods of time. Williams sued his former employer Revco Discount Drug Centers, Inc., d/b/a CVS Pharmacy, Inc. (“CVS”) alleging that CVS failed to accommodate his requests for an accommodation under the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”). Williams “acknowledged that his position involved extended standing over … Continue Reading
