Image Credit: Grouch (Joker Parody) – SNL (YouTube) Let’s pretend that you operate a sanitation company. One of your employees — let’s call him ‘Oscar’ — tells you that he would like to take a multi-week sabbatical to learn more about his job and spend some time living in a…
Articles Posted in Disability
No, a late request for a workplace accommodation doesn’t excuse prior performance issues
Image Credit: Photofunia.com (https://photofunia.com/results/5d92b3c0089f7a3a938b457d) Often, when I present at HR events on reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, I’m asked about how to deal with disciplining employees who wait until after the performance issues arise and the progressive discipline follows to request an accommodation. Specifically, do you have…
Four mistakes that you and your managers make when firing employees
sailko [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsWell, maybe not you and yours. But, read on just in case. Over the weekend, I read this federal court opinion involving a woman’s claims that her former employer violated both the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of…
Get your damn story straight if you’re going to fire someone who just returned from medical leave.
Image by DigitalShards from Pixabay I’ve talked a fair amount recently about retaliation claims (here and here), mostly focusing on timing as the possible link between a protected activity (such as a complaint of discrimination) and an adverse employment action (like a firing). The plaintiffs in those cases were unsuccessful…
Vacation Thread: The Zamboni-Drivin’ Disability-Discriminatin’ Lawsuit
By Ivan Curra, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link (Not pictured: Eric Meyer; probably off grabbing a Dole Whip (adult version) and a turkey leg). Folks, the blog posts may not be as fast and furious (i.e., daily) as usual this week. That’s because, yes, I am vacationing with the family in…
Blame it on the a a a a a alcohol
Image by Social Butterfly from Pixabay When can you ask an employee if s/he has a problem with alcohol? The answer is almost never. But, one company recently dodged a major bullet after asking an employee whether he had a drinking problem and questions about his drinking in general. Using…
Filling out those EEO-1s stinks. But, it could be worse…
By U.S. Government – Extracted from PDF file here., Public Domain, Link I want to give a little shoutout to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, with whom I am spending the day today in Atlanta at the 22nd annual Examining Conflicts in Employment Laws (EXCEL) Training Conference. So, today’s post…
Does over-accommodating an employee’s disability expose your business to ADA claims?
By Flickr user Tyler Silvest Wikideas1 (talk) 21:43, 7 November 2016 (UTC) – Here, CC BY 2.0, Link Well, it could. But, will the plaintiff win? That’s a different story. In this case, an employer accommodated an employee with chronic back pain for a long time. How long? Like 22…
The top five, juiciest, greatest-ever HR compliance posts that I’ve read in the past 24 hours
Image by PixLoger from Pixabay But, first, I have a confession to make. I only read six posts. Over here at the Ohio Employer Law Blog, Jon Hyman writes about a federal district judge who dismissed a plaintiff’s hostile work environment claim notwithstanding evidence of “daily or near daily” harassment…
Does randomly re-testing employees who earlier test positive for drugs or alcohol violate the ADA?
It’s an interesting theory. And by ‘interesting,’ I mean… Anyway, before I get too snarky, I’ll share with you the facts of this opinion from a federal court in New York that I read recently. The “On Call program” and more random tests. According to the plaintiffs, they were subject to…