Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
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 […]
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 […]
Government audits, participant lawsuits and the dreaded play-or-pay rule could heap liability and risk on employer plans, all as a result of the reform law that was just affirmed by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court. Employers must take into account new liabilities when they move workers to part-time status or divert retirees into […]
The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from discriminating against people with disabilities or even asking questions that could influence an employment decision. Employers can avoid legal problems by training managers on what they can and can’t ask during the hiring process. Before making a conditional offer of employment, an employer may not ask any […]
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing a Killeen, Texas branch of the fast food franchise Wendy’s for turning down a job applicant because he is hearing-impaired. The EEOC charges in its suit that the restaurant’s general manager refused to hire Michael Harrison, Jr. for a cooker position, despite his qualifications and experience, upon learning that […]
Lawmakers have introduced a bill that would lower the burden of proof for employees bringing disability and age discrimination claims. If passed, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act (S. 2189) would change the laws’ “but for” standard to one allowing “mixed motives.” Both the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act […]
A worker with bipolar disorder was awarded more than $56,000 after a federal district court found that his employer fired him because of his disability, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The case is one of the first bipolar disorder suits the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has brought to trial. […]
By Diane Pietraszewski The vast majority of all equal employment opportunity lawsuits are filed by individual employees or job applicants. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) may file cases on behalf of individuals, but it rarely does so because of limited resources. To get more “bang” for its litigation bucks, the EEOC is increasingly turning […]
The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design are in effect officially as of March 15. These standards were adopted as part of the revised regulations for Title II and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and will make buildings and facilities accessible to more than 54 million Americans with disabilities. […]
by Jeffrey S. Beck Most employers are aware that to meet the burden of establishing a discrimination claim under the indirect method (i.e., without “smoking gun” evidence of discriminatory intent), an employee must offer evidence that similarly situated individuals outside her protected class were treated more favorably. While that principle is well established, cases can […]