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Jonathan Hyman

6th Circuit’s surprise call: Pregnancy ‘impairments’ are disabilities

10/08/2010

The ADA expressly excludes pregnancy as a disability. The law says so, and I’ve always believed it to be true. But now a new decision has turned that notion on its head—and that may mean you’ll have to make some changes to your policies.

How seriously should we take allegations of female-on-male sexual harassment?

09/24/2010
Q. A male employee recently complained to HR that a female co-worker was sexually harassing him. Do I have to investigate this claim the same as I would a claim by a woman against a male co-worker?

Across the table: 10 tips for preparing for a deposition

09/10/2010

A deposition may feel like a simple conversation between the parties in a lawsuit, but it isn’t. It is a tool used by a highly skilled practitioner to lock-in your side of the story, build his or her case through your admissions and evaluate you as a trial witness. The following are my top 10 things to think about as you prepare to give testimony in a deposition.

What are the rules? I’m afraid we wrongly denied an employee’s FMLA leave request

09/03/2010
Q. An employee worked for us for years, took four years off to have a child and was rehired nine months ago. She asked for time off because her child needed surgery. We refused because we thought she was not FMLA-eligible. After we terminated her for an unauthorized leave of absence, we received a nasty letter from her attorney threatening to sue us for violating her rights under the FMLA. Who’s right?

Where can I get the new EEO poster we need?

09/03/2010
Q. I heard something about a new EEO poster that employers are required to have in their workplaces. Can you explain this new requirement?

How should we get medical information for certifying the need for FMLA leave?

09/03/2010
Q. Is there any help you can provide on how we should obtain medical information from employees taking FMLA leave?

What are Ohio’s rules on military leave?

09/03/2010
Q. An employee recently requested a leave of absence because her husband left for Afghanistan. We denied her request. Now, I’m worried that we may have acted wrongly. Did we?

When spices, dogs and employees don’t mix, what should we do?

07/08/2010
Q. An employee recently came to us with a unique request for a reasonable accommodation. She has a dangerous allergic reaction to paprika, and uses a service dog to warn her whenever the spice is nearby. We granted her request to bring her service dog to work. Subsequently, another employee complained that she is severely allergic to dogs. What should we do?

Are we in trouble? We just demanded that one of our employees lose weight

07/08/2010
Q. I own a restaurant where we require the waitresses to wear revealing outfits. Recently, we placed an employee on a probationary period as a result of her having gained weight. We advised her that if she did not lose 10 pounds in 60 days, we would terminate her employment. Have we done anything illegal?

After poor-performing worker complains about e-mail, should we follow through on plans to fire?

07/08/2010
Q. Admittedly, this is an odd-ball question. My HR department just received a complaint from an employee about risqué e-mails that some of her co-workers were trading back and forth. Coincidentally, the employee who complained is also slotted for termination because of poor performance and attendance problems. Is there any risk in terminating this employee in light of her recent complaint?