ADA

Attendance essential, even for disabled employees

03/12/2020

Feel free to require regular attendance from all your employees, even those who are disabled. Simply missing work or refusing to follow rules for requesting time off can be grounds for firing.

EEOC issues guidance on coronavirus & ADA

03/12/2020

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already issued extensive guidance for employers on how to handle the coronavirus outbreak. The EEOC has issued its own guidance for employers grappling with how to deal with a potential pandemic while also complying with the ADA.

Consider all qualified disabled applicants

03/05/2020

Remind hiring managers that someone applying for a part-time, minimum-wage, low-skill job enjoys the same workplace rights as a professional applying for an executive position. That goes for disabled applicants, too.

Never tolerate harassment on the basis of disability—especially by supervisors

03/02/2020

Disabled applicants are not just entitled to reasonable accommodations for their disabilities. Employers also owe them a work environment free of disability-related harassment. You must warn supervisors against tolerating that kind of harassment—or worse, participating in it.

Beware two ADA traps: Perceiving obesity as a disability, making applicants pay for exams

02/25/2020

Employers that cite obesity as a presumptive disability and then require an applicant to prove that he is not disabled are violating disability discrimination laws, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

Comply with the law when requiring employees to work overtime

02/18/2020

In general, employers have the right to require employees to work overtime, as long as they are properly paid for the additional hours. However, that right is not unlimited.

Employer entitled to know nature of disability

02/07/2020

When the EEOC invites an employer to settle a case alleging disability discrimination, the employer can demand to know the specific disability the applicant or employee has. That’s the conclusion a federal judge reached in a recent case.

Short-lived, minor illness doesn’t qualify as disability under FEHA

02/03/2020

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act outlaws disability discrimination. It includes definitions of disability, including physical disabilities that affect the digestive system if the condition limits a major life activity. But that doesn’t mean that every minor or transient digestive upset qualifies for protection, as the following case shows.

Steer clear of assumptions about disability

01/30/2020

The EEOC is aggressively going after employers that single out disabled workers based on unfounded assumptions about the kind of work they can and cannot do.

Goodwill didn’t show any to disabled NYC janitor

01/28/2020

Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey has agreed to pay a former janitor $65,000 to settle charges of disability discrimination.

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