Tag: disability

Arizona Makes Misrepresenting Pet as Service Animal Illegal

Arizona has made it illegal for people to pass off a pet as a service animal in order to have an animal accompany them to public places where only service animals are allowed. While the new law, which took effect August 3, is a relief to many employers and business owners, they must be careful […]

“Ambien Made Me Do It!”

As we previously covered, in late May, Roseanne Barr went on a late-night Twitter tirade that included racial insults about a former official in the Obama administration.  ABC responded hours later by condemning Barr’s Twitter statement as “abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with [its] values.” The network then cancelled her namesake show. Attempting to explain her […]

Mariah Carey Won’t Let Bipolar Diagnosis “Define” or “Control” Her

Mariah Carey, known as an iconic singer-songwriter and a dramatic diva, disclosed to People magazine last week that she has bipolar disorder.  Although she was first diagnosed in 2001, Carey says she finally sought treatment recently after “the hardest couple of years [she’s] been through.” (Among her recent personal and professional issues, you may recall […]

dog

Who Let the Dogs in? Handling Requests for Service Animals at Work

It seems like I’m seeing more and more people with service animals—particularly “comfort animals” meant to ease anxiety or similar problems. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers must provide “reasonable accommodations” to employees with disabilities. Does that mean you must allow disabled employees to bring their pets to work? Well, it depends.

mind-set

Hiring in 2018: Why Neurodiversity Matters

Earlier this year, more than 250 CEOs from America’s leading businesses signed a pledge to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. In today’s political and social climate, it is encouraging to see a top-down commitment to fostering corporate cultures that encourage dialogue, collaboration, mutual learning, and sharing of best practices.

EEOC

EEOC Ends Fiscal Year with a Flurry of Suits

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) operates under a fiscal year (FY) that runs from October 1 to September 30. An FY-end tradition for the agency is to file as many lawsuits as possible on or before September 30 so that they will count toward the statistical measures for the closing FY.

pretext

Employer’s Winning Defense: Police Sergeant Was Undeserving and Disliked

A federal court in Rhode Island recently rejected a sergeant’s claim that the Providence Police Department’s (PPD) failure to promote him to lieutenant was illegally based on disability discrimination. The court found the employment decision was based in part on the chief of police’s conclusion that the sergeant was undeserving of the promotion and wasn’t […]