ADA

Threatening behavior trumps employee’s disability claim

03/13/2012

Employees who are suffering from depression, anxiety or other psychological problems may be disabled, but that doesn’t mean they’re excused from following the rules. For example, employers don’t have to tolerate threats, even if the threats concern the employee’s disability.

Approved FMLA leave doesn’t mean worker is disabled

03/09/2012

Just because someone has a serious health condition that qualifies for FMLA leave, it doesn’t always mean the condition is a disability. And merely approving someone’s FMLA request isn’t the same as admitting the employee is disabled.

Can we ask about disabilities before hiring?

03/08/2012

Q. We recently extended an employment offer to someone who was later determined to be unable to perform the job’s essential functions due to a visual impairment. As a result, we wasted a significant amount of time. Aren’t workers obligated under the ADA to disclose that they suffer from a disability?

Can we make deaf employee–and his boss–learn and communicate with sign language?

03/08/2012

Q. We recently hired a deaf employee who communicates exclusively by written notes. We are finding that this process is time-consuming and harms productivity. May we require the deaf worker and his supervisor to learn sign language? Can we terminate them if they refuse?

What turkey fired the HIV-positive employee?

02/24/2012

Butterball, the Garner-based turkey processor, faces EEOC disability discrimination charges after it allegedly tolerated harassment against an HIV-positive employee and then fired her after she complained.

Dubious request for ADA accommodation? Be prepared to document rationale for denial

02/24/2012

What should you do if an employee produces a health care professional’s diagnosis of stress, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), along with a recommendation to reassign the employee? Do you accept that the employee is disabled and consider the reassignment as a reasonable accommodation?

Employee acting as her own lawyer? Prepare for a long slog through the legal system

02/22/2012

Ten years of litigation has finally come to an end now that a federal appeals court has tossed the last claims of an employee who acted as her own lawyer.

Excessive bathroom use: a real disability?

02/13/2012

Q. We have a couple of employees who get tardies for being late and their excuses have been that they’re in the bathroom due to a disability. So I follow them to the bathroom because I know they are lying. Am I breaking the law by following them? Is this considered harassment? It’s getting out of hand.

Know Minnesota’s disability law: State statute has lower threshold than federal ADA

02/09/2012

Under the ADA, employees who claim to be disabled must show that their condition substantially impairs a major life function. Minnesota has its own version of the law. It requires that employees show their condition materially impairs a major life function. That’s a lower standard, but still a tough one for employees to prove.

Accommodate–don’t dismiss–disabled worker