Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
If you require a disabled employee to be completely recovered before returning to work, it’s important to reconsider that policy in light of the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling involving Amtrak (see above). In the case, a disabled ticket agent who could no longer perform her job claimed that her supervisor wouldn’t allow her to bid […]
What if an employee becomes disabled and there’s no reasonable accommodation that would enable the person to keep working in their existing position? In this relatively common situation, according to two recent Americans with Disabilities Act cases, you may have to find the worker a new job. We’ll look at these decisions and give you […]
Can workers who swear to be totally disabled on an application for Social Security benefits turn around and sue you under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), contending they’re qualified to work despite their disability claim? Two recent court decisions – one from the United States Supreme Court and the other involving a Northern California […]
A number of cases in recent years have raised the thorny issue of whether the Americans With Disabilities Act protects workers whose disabilities don’t necessarily affect them at work because they take medication or use corrective devices. Now, in a trio of important new decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned the Equal Employment Opportunity […]
An employee who claimed she was fired because her newborn daughter had a disability has been given the green light to sue her employer under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Karen Abdel-Khalek, who worked for Tenenbaum and Associates, Inc., gave birth to a baby with serious health problem. Several months later, while Abdel-Khalek was on […]
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has released comprehensive guidelines designed to help its investigators analyze complaints-and help employers comply with their accommodation obligations-under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The new enforcement guide attempts to answer frequently asked employer questions on a range of topics-from how to handle medical verification of a disability to when […]
Several injured prison guards who lost their jobs after their doctors prohibited them from having direct contact with inmates were not discriminated against under the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a new ruling by the federal appeals court that covers California. The King County Department of Adult Detention initially accommodated the guards’ injuries by […]
Employers have won a whopping 92% of disability discrimination cases that have gone to trial, according to a new American Bar Association study. Despite the impressive statistics, the Americans with Disabilities Act poses continuing risks for employers. The study did not take into account cases that settled before trial and the high cost of defending […]
HIV-positive individuals are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act even if they don’t yet have any AIDS symptoms, according to a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The court’s reasoning could have broad consequences in the workplace because it may open the door to legal protection for employees whose conditions aren’t necessarily disabling, such as […]
When an employee who has been injured on the job wants to return to work, it can be beneficial to both you and the worker to consider a light-duty assignment. Light-duty positions can keep the employee productive and help reduce workers’ comp costs. But modifying job duties can also present logistical problems and create new […]