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ADA

EEOC issues guidance on coronavirus & ADA

03/12/2020
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has already issued extensive guidance for employers on how to handle the coronavirus outbreak. The EEOC has issued its own guidance for employers grappling with how to deal with a potential pandemic while also complying with the ADA.

Consider all qualified disabled applicants

03/05/2020
Remind hiring managers that someone applying for a part-time, minimum-wage, low-skill job enjoys the same workplace rights as a professional applying for an executive position. That goes for disabled applicants, too.

Never tolerate harassment on the basis of disability—especially by supervisors

03/02/2020
Disabled applicants are not just entitled to reasonable accommodations for their disabilities. Employers also owe them a work environment free of disability-related harassment. You must warn supervisors against tolerating that kind of harassment—or worse, participating in it.

Beware two ADA traps: Perceiving obesity as a disability, making applicants pay for exams

02/25/2020
Employers that cite obesity as a presumptive disability and then require an applicant to prove that he is not disabled are violating disability discrimination laws, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

Comply with the law when requiring employees to work overtime

02/18/2020
In general, employers have the right to require employees to work overtime, as long as they are properly paid for the additional hours. However, that right is not unlimited.

Employer entitled to know nature of disability

02/07/2020
When the EEOC invites an employer to settle a case alleging disability discrimination, the employer can demand to know the specific disability the applicant or employee has. That’s the conclusion a federal judge reached in a recent case.

Short-lived, minor illness doesn’t qualify as disability under FEHA

02/03/2020
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act outlaws disability discrimination. It includes definitions of disability, including physical disabilities that affect the digestive system if the condition limits a major life activity. But that doesn’t mean that every minor or transient digestive upset qualifies for protection, as the following case shows.

Steer clear of assumptions about disability

01/30/2020
The EEOC is aggressively going after employers that single out disabled workers based on unfounded assumptions about the kind of work they can and cannot do.

Goodwill didn’t show any to disabled NYC janitor

01/28/2020
Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey has agreed to pay a former janitor $65,000 to settle charges of disability discrimination.

Being short probably not an ADA-qualifying disability

01/23/2020
Merely being shorter than most people is not enough on its own to be classified as disabled under the ADA. To qualify, an applicant or employee who is short in stature would have to show that her condition substantially impairs a major life activity.