You’re not a doctor. (Unless you’re a doctor.) So don’t act like one when deciding which of your employees may be a direct threat to others at work. (Unless you like defending Americans with Disabilities Act claims). Here’s an example. Last week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced (here)…
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities who are employees or applicants for employment. However, the ADA does not require an employer to assist a person without a disability due to that person’s association with someone with a disability. Still,…
Federal anti-discrimination laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, help ensure that individuals with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities at work as everyone else. Both laws require employers to provide individuals with disabilities with reasonable accommodations if needed to perform the essential functions…
A few months ago, I blogged about a lawsuit in which the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged that an employer denied a deaf job applicant’s accommodation request and terminated his candidacy because verbal communication and hearing were job requirements for the position in a remote setting. Late last month,…
Wait, Eric! Didn’t you blog about this yesterday? Actually, yesterday’s post explored how you can tell if full-time work is essential to an employee’s job. But, to answer today’s question about in-office versus remote work, I’ll use the same Eleventh Circuit decision I addressed yesterday. We have an employee on…
I’ll give you an example. Suppose one of your supervisors has worked full-time (at least 40-hour weeks) on the evening shift for many years. Then, they are diagnosed with a disability and take FMLA leave. When the FMLA expired, they requested (and the company approved) a temporary accommodation allowing them…
“Eric, we have an employee who needed four weeks off for hip surgery. We provided it. After the surgery, they requested three more months off to have a second surgery. We provided it. Then, they experienced even more complications that required even more surgery, and their doctor told us they…
In my day, televisions had antennas, which you had to position just right to watch one of three channels, and I’m turning into my parents. Let’s talk about Family and Medical Leave Act interference instead. Last night, I read an Eleventh Circuit decision about an employee who had taken FMLA…
Let’s see if you agree with me. The defendant operated a hotel and event venue. The plaintiff had an opioid addiction and had been prescribed methadone to treat her addiction. She took methadone daily. In 2021, the plaintiff applied for the position of banquet bartender with the defendant. The plaintiff…
Suppose that several employees complain that a coworker is creating a “hostile work environment” because they were afraid that she (the coworker) was going to report them (the employees) for engaging in unspecified misconduct in the workplace. Can the employer respond by mandating an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) referral as…