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After four years of exemplary employment, John Byrne, an Avon Products Inc. engineer, began to fall asleep on the job and was fired. It turned out he was suffering from depression. He was quickly hospitalized and recovered. Byrne charged in a lawsuit his termination violated the Family and Medical Leave Act because his abrupt change […]
Suppose an employee’s medical condition prevents them from performing their job. Instead of exploring whether a reasonable accommodation is available, you terminate the employee. And, not surprisingly, you wind up with a disability-bias lawsuit on your hands. But what if it turns out the employee wasn’t disabled in the first place? Can you still be […]
Deborah Wells was a bookkeeper for Clackamas Gastroenterology Associates, a medical clinic and professional corporation with four physician shareholders and directors and about 12 employees. When Wells was terminated, she sued the clinic under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The clinic responded that it didn’t have enough employees to be covered by the ADA. Join […]
With the economy still slumping, many employers are looking for creative ways to cut costs. You may be tempted to force some of your older employees to retire—but this strategy could land you in an expensive age-bias lawsuit. That’s because, under state and federal law, pushing older workers out the door is OK in only […]
A San Bernardino jury’s $1.45 million verdict for a disabled employee underscores the importance of making sure that physical agility tests actually measure the ability to perform essential job functions. Judy Tousignant was a part-time juvenile hall counselor for San Bernardino County for eight years. In a physical agility test required for promotion to a […]
One of the more perplexing issues employers have been facing as our country grapples with war and terrorism threats is employees’ fear of flying. Indicators of this troubling problem show up in scaled-back plans for work travel for the near future. In addition, recent concerns about the contagious severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak is […]
Many employers have discovered that successful telework arrangements can provide high levels of flexibility and employee satisfaction. And, as a new fact sheet from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission points out, you may be required to consider telework as a reasonable accommodation for disabled employees. Modifying Telework Programs The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) […]
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has updated its enforcement guidance concerning reasonable accommodation and undue hardship under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The revisions stem from a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that it is unreasonable for an employer to have to reassign a disabled employee if doing so would violate a seniority system, […]
Chris Schultz, a longtime maintenance worker at Christ Hospital and Medical Center in Illinois, took 12 weeks of FMLA leave over the course of a year to care for his ill parents. His father had Alzheimer’s disease and his mother had heart problems and diabetes. During this time period, the hospital implemented a new evaluation […]
Gov. Davis has signed into law state layoff notice requirements similar to those in the federal WARN Act—but broader. We’ll explain what you need to know about the new state law, which we’ll call “Cal/WARN.” Federal WARN Coverage The existing federal WARN Act applies to employers with more than 100 workers. And notice under WARN […]