ADA

Caltrans liable for not addressing accommodation requests

05/20/2015

The California Court of Appeal has upheld a jury’s verdict finding the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) liable for failure to provide a reasonable accommodation and failure to engage in the interactive process.

Oakland, Ca. children’s hospital settles ADA complaint

05/20/2015

The Children’s Hospital and Research Center in Oakland has reached a settlement with an employee who had cancer and was fired for taking too much medical leave.

Hidden disabilities: What’s your duty to accommodate?

05/18/2015

While the Americans with Disabilities Act says you must offer a “reasonable accommodation” to disabled employees, how obvious must the person’s disability be before you fall under that requirement? And what is the employee’s duty to alert you and request the accommodation? As this case shows, courts don’t expect you to play a guessing game with your staff. Employees have a responsibility to explain their conditions and request an accommodation.

FMLA and ADA accommodation: Don’t dismiss request to work from home

05/06/2015

If, after FMLA leave, an employee asks for more time off or to work from home, handle the request just like you would another disabled employee’s reasonable accommodation request. Verify the disability and discuss possible accommodations before you reject the request. Otherwise, a jury may hold you liable.

Can smokers claim an ADA disability to justify taking lengthy smoke breaks?

05/04/2015

Q. I own and run a paper company in Texas. Some of my employees who are cigarette smokers regularly take more breaks than the two, 15-minute breaks that are allowed under their employment contract—and some of the nonsmokers in the office are getting angry. When I confront the smokers about this conduct, I am increasingly hearing them make an unusual claim—that they have a “disability” and are protected by law. What should I do?

Stress from tough boss isn’t a disability

05/04/2015

Some supervisors are hard to handle, especially for subordinates sensitive to criticism. But the resulting stress isn’t usually a disability under the ADA and therefore doesn’t have to be accommodated.

Supreme Court: Rethink pregnancy leave policy

05/01/2015

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a long-awaited ruling that aimed to settle the controversy surrounding when employers must give light-duty work to pregnant employees.

Johns Hopkins provides model for lactation rooms

04/27/2015

The Affordable Care Act requires employers of 50 or more to provide lactation rooms so nursing women can feed their babies or express breast milk. The rooms must be clean and private—and importantly, they can’t be restrooms. Johns Hopkins University and Health System decided not only to meet the law’s requirements, but exceed them. The result is a model that other employers may want to copy.

Telecommute not always ADA accommodation

04/24/2015

Employers won a major victory April 10 when that court ruled that telecommuting is not always a reasonable accommodation, even for jobs that can mostly be done from home.

What constitutes an essential job function?

04/21/2015

Q. I hand a brochure titled “Job Information and Requirements” to each new hire I bring on board to my construction company. With the addition of new positions, I need to draft new brochures with job descriptions, but am having trouble determining the essential job functions. Is there a specific method that I can use to decide whether a job function is essential?

ADA