Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
The U.S. Supreme Court is now weighing arguments in a case with important ramifications for the many employers that have been accused of retaliation — or who fear being accused of retaliation — when they discipline or fire an employee. For workers, the case raises questions about the strength and scope of Title VII’s anti-retaliation […]
Being deaf in one ear is not a disability, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania ruled in Mengel v. Reading Eagle Co. (No. 11–6151, 2013 WL 1285477 (E.D. Pa. March 29, 2014)). While findings of “no disability” were common before the Americans with Disabilities Act was amended, they have been […]
Outback Steakhouse will pay $65,000 to a server it fired because of his traumatic brain injury, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The payment will settle a lawsuit EEOC filed on the server’s behalf. The commission alleged that John Woods was fired after a new manager took over an Outback restaurant in Phoenix. Woods worked […]
Often, employees who believe they were fired because of their disability will show that they were replaced by an individual without a disability as evidence of discrimination. In one recent case, however, a district court has allowed a case in which a deaf teaching assistant — who was replaced by another deaf individual — to […]
By Jennifer M. Shepherd and Hannah Roskey It’s well established that discrimination against an employee on the basis of a physical or mental disability is prohibited in Canada. Drug or alcohol addictions constitute a “disability” under most human rights legislation such that employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees on the basis of their addictions. […]
Over the veto of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York City will soon have what’s being called the nation’s toughest law against discrimination based on a job applicant’s employment status. The city council passed the law on March 13 despite Bloomberg’s veto. It will take effect in mid-June. Currently, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington, D.C., have […]
With thousands of pages of new laws and rules, there must be thousands of new reasons for employees to sue for health benefits not delivered properly in the wake of near-complete enactment of health reform starting in 2014, one could be forgiven for thinking. Health reform certainly does appear to be somewhat of a litigation […]
The owner of a Comfort Inn & Suites franchise will pay $27,500 to settle claims that it discriminated against an employee because she was pregnant. The case reminds employers to keep in mind that the law prohibits discrimination against pregnant employees, and that employers may need to accommodate them. Ramin Inc., which owned a Comfort […]
A newly introduced bill would require the U.S. Department of Labor to follow a rule it wants to impose on federal contractors. DOL’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs is in the final stages of a rulemaking that would require federal contractors to aim to have workers with disabilities make up 7 percent of their […]
A reasonable jury could conclude that an employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it failed to hire a deaf lifeguard, said the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, overturning a lower court’s decision. The case, Keith v. County of Oakland (2013 WL 115647, No. 11–2276 (6th Cir. Jan. 10, 2013)) involved Nicholas Keith, […]