Is a Policy Requiring Employees to be 100% Healed Before Returning to Work a Problem?

the situation A company implements a policy under which any employee must be 100% healed from any medical condition before returning to work.  Is this lawful? the ruling Probably not.  A few months ago, the EEOC filed a lawsuit against Nevada Restaurant Services, a Nevada company that operates slot machines, taverns and casinos, based on […]

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Does Refusing a Request to Work Remotely Equal Discrimination?

the situation An employee has to be on bed rest for a number of months because of a medical condition.  She requests that you allow her to telecommute.  But because her job duties involve a lot of in person presentations and face to face meetings, you deny this request and require her to take unpaid […]

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Is An Allergy a Disability?

the situation An applicant for a position in a hospital has a latex allergy, meaning he could have a reaction to the latex gloves used with regularity in the hospital. Is this allergy a disability? And, if so, what does the hospital have to do to accommodate it?

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How Far Do You Have to Go to Accommodate a Religious Belief?

the situation An employee who is normally scheduled to work one Saturday a month tells you that he cannot do so because he is a Seventh Day Adventist (and thus celebrates Sabbath on Saturdays). You tell him he is free to use leave for any Saturdays on which he would otherwise have to work, but […]

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Return to Work Only When Cleared of Medical Restrictions—Is this a Problem?

  the situation A company requires all employees returning to work from medical leave to be able to perform their essential job duties without any sort of accommodation—basically a 100% return-to-work policy.  The policy applies across the board, no matter what the medical condition or what the employee’s position.  Is this lawful?

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What if an employee with bipolar disorder is aggressive and disruptive? Does the ADA prevent an employer from firing that employee?

Potentially not, depending on the circumstances, according to a recent case from Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Walz v. Ameriprise Financial, Inc., Case No. 14-2495 (March 9, 2015). In this case, the plaintiff Marissa Walz worked for Ameriprise in a job which required good people and communication skills, along with the ability to work well […]

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Watch Out for Age-based Commentary

Is calling an employee “old man” discriminatory? It could be–just yesterday, the EEOC announced that Wal-Mart has agreed to pay $150,000 and provide other relief to a resolve an age and disability lawsuit filed by the EEOC on behalf of an employee. The EEOC charged that Wal-Mart discriminated against the employee by subjecting him to […]

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What if an employee quits before hearing us out on our response to her reasonable accommodation request? Is my company liable?

No—according to a recent decision of the First Circuit Court of Appeals. EEOC v. Kohl’s Department Store, Inc., No. 14-1268 (1st Cir. Dec. 19, 2014). If an employee quits when she gets a negative response to her request for accommodation and fails to actually participate in the interactive process, the employer does not face liability. […]

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Even Extremely Flexible Schedule Accommodation Request Not Unreasonable as a Matter of Law

The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently reversed the decision of the district court in the case of Solomon v. Vilsack, No. 12-5123 (D.C. Cir. August 15, 2014), a case involving an employee’s request to have significant flexibility in the her working hours as a reasonable accommodation for her disability. The […]

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Policy Allowing No More Than Six Months’ Sick Leave Does Not Violate Rehabilitation Act

The Tenth Circuit was recently faced with the question of whether a university’s inflexible policy disallowing sick leave longer than six months violated the Rehabilitation Act. Rejecting the claims of the plaintiff, an assistant professor who sought more than six months leave after being diagnosed with and beginning treatment for cancer, the Tenth Circuit found […]

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