An individual who wants to bring federal disability discrimination and retaliation claims against an employer can’t just go right to court. No, courts would choke with employment lawsuits. Instead, she must first exhaust her administrative remedies at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by filing a charge of discrimination. But…
On Tuesday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission updated its COVID-19 guidance. I went ahead and redlined the changes for you. But the EEOC wants to call your attention specifically to the updated circumstances under which employers may test employers for COVID-19 at work: EEOC’s assessment at the outset of…
The muse for today’s post is whoever drafts the press releases for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Last night, I read this one about a $70,000 settlement that the EEOC reached with a Colorado employer to resolve a lawsuit filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The EEOC alleged…
Some of you are clutching your pearls and mouthing, “God, I hope so.” Glass half full, I may be about to save you a call to your company’s employment lawyer. Glass half empty, you may be pretty screwed if the statute of limitations hasn’t already run on the potential Americans…
A few weeks ago, I blogged about a situation involving an employee who used CBD products and tested positive for marijuana at work. She claimed that the employer took into account her underlying disability when it terminated her employment and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The employer countered that…
More employers now are using software, algorithms, and artificial intelligence to make smarter hiring decisions. There’s nothing inherently unlawful about that. Except, consider this. Maybe the algorithm intentionally or unintentionally “screens out” an individual with a disability, even though that individual can do the job with a reasonable accommodation. Tangentially, an…
His claims were so old that they predate the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Let’s see how his ADA lawsuit turned out. (Spoiler alert: Not well). I’d been meaning to blog about this Sixth Circuit decision for a while. Here are the relevant facts: In 1980, the plaintiff suffered…
That reads a little bit like a headline from The Onion. But according to this press release from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a company will pay $79,000 and provide other relief to settle a federal disability discrimination lawsuit in which the EEOC charged that the company violated the…
Last night, I read this federal court opinion where a defendant, sued after firing a plaintiff who used CBD for her disability, got the entire case dismissed. So, let’s talk about how and why. According to the plaintiff’s complaint, she had a disability for which she used an over-the-counter CBD…
I can’t make this stuff up. The former Zamboni driver for a professional hockey team claims that the team unlawfully fired him based on his age (68) and disability (benign prostatic hypertrophy, which causes a frequent and uncontrollable need to urinate). Unfortunately for the plaintiff, a rather startling admission may…