Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
In early 2013, the California Court of Appeals ruled in favor of an employee in a so-called “mixed-motive” case (when an employer has both unlawful and legitimate reasons for taking an adverse employment action) brought under the state Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA).
Yesterday, we looked at the case of a California employee, Lorena Alamo, who successfully established that her termination was due to improper “mixed motives” (the employer had both unlawful and legitimate reasons for the firing).
If you struggle with understanding whether you must accommodate an employee with a mental disorder, you're not alone. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) can become a tricky labyrinth to navigate, and now the maze has gotten even more complicated.
What is DSM-5? It is the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, released by the American Psychiatric Association on May 18, 2013. This is the first substantial update to the DSM since 1994, and it reorganizes the classification system and changes the names of some disorders to simplify diagnostics for practitioners. The DSM is primarily used by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals in diagnosing patients, but its influence extends to the courts and the development of employment law.
Yesterday, we presented attorney Jathan Janove’s suggestions for dealing with employees who say, “My aberrant behavior was caused by my disability.” Today, we’ll give you more of his tips—plus an introduction to an upcoming California-specific ADA/FEHA training session.
Ensuring that disabled employees are not discriminated against is one of the goals of both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California’s Fair Housing and Employment Act (FEHA). This goal is accomplished through not only defining what it means to be disabled and what must be done to accommodate those with disabilities, but also through specifically outlining the actions that employers cannot take without violating the law.
“Knowing when an employee may be entitled to take time off for medical reasons or whether an employee’s entitled to some type of accommodation for a disability can be very, very confusing—especially for the people on the front lines:your company’s supervisors.” Joseph Wilson pointed out in a recent CER webinar.
Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch grabbed headlines last fall when a federal court ruled against it in a religious discrimination case involving the termination of a Muslim employee for wearing a headscarf known as a “hijab.”
Yesterday, we introduced the case of Frank Estrada—a volunteer police reserve officer in Los Angeles who received workers’ comp benefits after being injured on the job. Did these benefits turn him into an actual “employee” for purposes of a bias suit he later filed? Read on to find out.
What might trigger chemical sensitivity for employees in the workplace? Here we provide a list of possible triggers and resulting symptoms, as well as common scenarios employers may need to face regarding employees with sensitivities.