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In a recent decision, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals—which covers Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas—addressed claims brought by an automaker’s employee under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Question: We have an employee who is getting a service animal and wants to know our policy on it. What can we ask in terms of why he needs the animal? What rights do we have in terms of allowing the dog on the job site? We operate heavy equipment at the job site and […]
Here we present a leave-related workplace scenario—inspired by an actual court case—that’s intended to help HR professionals better understand an employer’s responsibilities under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). In this scenario, a police officer who took FMLA leave to recover from an injury asks to be assigned to light or desk duty or […]
Question: We have an employee who requested FMLA paperwork because of her migraines. Unfortunately, she is ineligible because her location is outside of the 75-mile radius of 50 employees or more. She is requesting special accommodations to miss work when she has a severe migraine. However, she is a kitchen designer and most of the […]
An employee who accrued more than 7 weeks’ worth of unscheduled absences during her 50-week probationary period was not entitled to job protection under federal disability law, an appeals court has ruled.
The 3rd Circuit—which covers Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania—recently ruled that an employer’s honest belief that an employee misused Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave can defeat an FMLA retaliation claim, even if the employer’s belief is mistaken. The court also ruled that under certain circumstances, an employee’s request for FMLA leave may constitute […]
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals recently offered employers some guidance—and perhaps some encouragement—in determining whether an employee is a “qualified individual with a disability” and, more important, what’s “reasonable” when you’re accommodating an employee during the initial training period.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) forbids discrimination in employment based on disability and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to their employees’ disabilities. The ADA also prohibits retaliation against those who seek reasonable accommodations or protection under the Act. But does the ADA protect an employee without a disability who requests an accommodation? The […]
Employees who quit their jobs to care for a member of their immediate family generally are qualified to receive unemployment benefits in Minnesota. However, the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently heard a claim in which a former employee was denied unemployment benefits due to the fact that “fiancée” doesn’t fall within the statutory definition of […]
An employee was not entitled to a 12-month leave extension as an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, a federal appeals court has ruled.