Practical HR Tips, News & Advice. Updated Daily.
A New York hospital agreed to pay $387,200 to resolve Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy allegations that it disclosed a patient’s particularly sensitive health information, including HIV status, to his employer.
A Popeye’s chicken franchise refused to hire a job applicant because he was HIV-positive, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has alleged in a lawsuit. Famous Chicken of Shreveport, LLC, a company that owns several Popeye’s Chicken restaurants, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the EEOC’s suit alleges. The general manager of a Longview, Texas, […]
The material in this issue comes from BLR®’s popular 10-Minute HR Trainer session, “The ADA—What Supervisors Need to Know.” Train your supervisors and managers on these basic facts, definitions, and requirements regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act. What Does “Reasonable Accommodation” Mean? The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation, if necessary, to enable an […]
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued two guidance memos for employers related to the current H1N1 flu outbreak—formerly known as “swine flu.”
The EEOC announced that international entertainment troupe Cirque du Soleil will pay $600,000 to settle a charge that it fired aerial gymnast Matthew Cusick for being HIV-positive, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The company claimed it believed his condition posed a direct threat to other performers, but the EEOC argued the decision […]
Federal OSHA’s revised rules for recording workplace injuries and illnesses took effect January 1. Although they’re not yet formally implemented in California, a Cal/ OSHA spokesman told CEA the agency expects the rules to be officially adopted by mid-February and is advising California employers to start following the new federal guidelines now for all 2002 […]
Vincent Fusco, an American Airlines ticket agent from WalnutCreek, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the airline for allegedly testing him for HIV in a roundabout way and then withdrawing a promotion offer for a flight attendant position after finding out about his HIV status. Following several prepromotion medical tests, the airline allegedly asked Fusco’s […]
You know you may have an obligation to accommodate a disabled employee or risk a lawsuit for disability discrimination. But you might not be aware that in California you can also be sued for discriminating against workers with certain medical conditions–even if they are notdisabled and do not need an accommodation. That’s what happened recently […]
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to resolve conflicting lower court decisions about whether people who are HIV-positive, but don’t have any AIDS symptoms, automatically qualify as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The case, which involved the part of the law dealing with discrimination in public accommodations, arose when a dentist refused to […]
In the first HIV case of its kind filed by the EEOC under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an applicant whose job offer was withdrawn after the person tested positive for HIV has agreed to a $90,000 settlement. The applicant signed an employment contract to be an entertainer on a Dolphin Cruise Line ship. But […]