Last week, we discussed an FMLA policy that your business needs to rip from its employee handbook and burn with fire. This week, we revisit an Americans Disabilities Act policy that should end up on the paper shredder: the 100% healed policy.
Folks, I’ve lost track of the number of disability accommodation requests on which I’ve counseled human resources concerning employee requests to work full-time from home. So, when I came across a recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit involving a failure-to-accommodate claim where the employer insisted on a 100% telework accommodation, I read with interest, as we lawyers like to say.
André Koehne, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Early in my career, I learned that it’s bad form for a lawyer to accuse another party of having “lied.” Judges generally frown upon this.
So, you can imagine that my interest was piqued when I read an Eighth Circuit decision issued yesterday weighing “the appropriate sanction for a plaintiff who lied in a deposition and withheld information.”
Employers that maintain a policy of treating any employee unable to return to work following the expiration of FMLA leave as having voluntarily resigned are begging for trouble.
But don’t just take my word for it. Continue reading
Back in the day, it could be difficult for a plaintiff claiming disability discrimination even to prove that they had a disability. Continue reading
I’ll go ahead and file this one under: “Ya think?”
But perhaps I’m getting out over my skis. So, let’s see what you think. Continue reading
An employee claiming that she endured sexual harassment must present evidence of “severe or pervasive” conduct based on her sex that was bad enough to interfere with her working conditions or create an intimidating workplace.
When a plaintiff initially presents these claims in court an initial filing, she does not have to detail every sordid fact and incident. Indeed, a short, plain statement of the facts — enough to place the defendant on notice of the claims against it will suffice.
At the same time, those initial claims of sexual harassment must be plausible — even in California, the most employee-friendly state in the country.
The Employer Handbook Blog
