ADA

Beware ADA claims if alleged victim isn’t satisfied with harassment investigation

12/30/2012

Some sexual harassment complaints don’t pan out. If, after investigating, you conclude that no harassment took place, the employee who complained may not be satisfied. How should you handle her? Your best bet is to address her concerns about having to work around the alleged harasser.

Asking for workers’ comp isn’t ADA-protected

12/19/2012

The ADA protects disabled employees from retaliation for claiming their right to accommodation and freedom from discrimination. But it’s sometimes tough to prove disability under the ADA, requiring a fairly serious medical condition.

What are our obligations to smell-sensitive employee and her co-workers?

12/18/2012

Q. Our office of about 30 people has been “asked” to stop using perfume and any other type of product that contains a fragrance because one employee claims those smells “bother” her. Everyone else feels this unfairly restricts the freedoms of the majority. Is there any legal backing to either side of this debate?

What Obama administration’s second term means for employers

12/18/2012

With President Obama taking the oath of office this month, employers are wondering what his second term will mean for them. Here is a sampling of the issues.

Caregiver leave: Was this firing disability discrimination?

12/12/2012

A refusal to grant time off as an accommodation for the disability of an employee’s family member will only pass muster for employers too small to be covered by the FMLA or employees who did not work long enough to be eligible for FMLA leave.

Dallas silkscreener settles ADA complaint

12/03/2012

Dallas-based DuPriest and Sons Holding will pay $24,000 to settle EEOC charges that it violated the ADA when it laid off a longtime employee after he informed his supervisor he would need regular kidney dialysis.

Rite-Aid, ex-worker settle disability lawsuit for $250K

12/03/2012

The Camp Hill-based Rite-Aid drug store chain will pay $250,000 to settle a disability discrimination and retaliation complaint filed by an epileptic former worker at one of its Maryland facilities.

Request accommodations info after FMLA leave expires

11/30/2012

Employees who run out of FMLA leave may still be eligible for additional time off under the ADA if their condition qualifies as a disability.

Track all ADA accommodation requests, responses

11/30/2012

If an employee sues over reasonable ADA accommodations, her attorney will probably ask how many recent accommodation requests you have received and whether you granted them. If you have this information on hand, it will be easier to defend the lawsuit.

ADA: Have employee suggest accommodations

11/16/2012

Some employees think that merely declaring they have a disability means it’s up to the employer to figure out an accommodation. That’s not entirely true. The ADA accommodations process is an interactive one, requiring input from both employee and employer.

ADA