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To bring a discrimination claim, a trainee with a disability needs only show that she was qualified to participate in the job training; she doesn’t need to prove that she was qualified for prospective job, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals ruled Aug. 8. The case, Rosebrough v. Buckeye Valley High School, involved Tammy […]
The United States should expect substantial changes to its disability employment statistics in the near future, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, announced on July 26, the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. “I believe our country is on the verge of major progress on the issue of disability employment,” he wrote in a letter […]
Newly appointed Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer — who some pundits have called “the most powerful pregnant woman in America” — is an exceptional employee in more ways than one. Even if she had worked the prerequisite 12 months (or 1,250-plus hours) at Yahoo to qualify for FMLA leave, Mayer would not be guaranteed a return […]
With Daniel Cafaro Montana has joined the obesity debate, determining in a recent case that being severely overweight, even with no underlying medical condition, can be a disability protected by state law. In BNSF Railway Co. v. Feit (No. OP 11-0463, 2012 MT 147 (Mont. July 6, 2012)), the state’s supreme court decided that obesity […]
A Midwestern farm company that fired a manager on the day he was due to return from FMLA leave has withstood the ex-employee’s allegations of FMLA retaliation and interference in a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling affirming a district court decision. The case is Winterhalter v. Dykhuis Farms, Inc., No. 11-1743 (July 23, […]
Allowing an employee to sit for half of her shift, thereby eliminating several job duties, is “per se” unreasonable, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has found. The case, EEOC v. Eckerd Corp. (d/b/a Rite Aid) (No. 1:10-CV-2816-JEC (N.D. Ga., July 9, 2012)), involved Fern Strickland, a drugstore cashier with osteoarthritis […]
A nursing assistant who requested intermittent leave because of her son’s serious health condition says that her employer fired her for taking the leave after it had mistakenly told her that she could take it — and a Pennsylvania district court judge has permitted the retaliation claim to move forward. The case is Medley v. […]
One of HR’s many ADA headaches is coworkers who think an employee who has been given an accommodation is unfairly getting special treatment, say attorneys Julie K. and Audra K. Hamilton. It’s always a difficult situation because you can’t discuss the disability or the accommodation. Because of the confidentiality requirements of the ADA, you may […]
One overlooked, ignored, and/or feared area of the ADA is dealing with employees who suffer from mental disabilities, say attorneys Julie K.Athey and Audra K. Hamilton. Because many mental disabilities are hard to spot, hard to diagnose, and hard to handle, employers may either give too much attention (fear, stigma, termination) or too little, pretending […]
By Diane M. Pietraszewski The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently issued two pieces of revised guidance focusing on the employment rights of disabled veterans under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). One of the documents, titled “Veterans and the Americans with Disabilities Act: A Guide for Employers,” is directed at employers. The other document […]