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ADA

ADA warning for bosses: You’re not qualified to diagnose employees’ mental illness

10/27/2012
The ADA protects employees with mental health problems from discrimination. That makes it dangerous for managers to engage in armchair psychology.

ADA: You choose which accommodation to use

10/22/2012
Disabled employees are entitled to reasonable accommodations. But that doesn’t mean they get to select the one accommodation they prefer. As long as the accommodation is reasonable, the employer gets to choose which one best fits the situation.

Is this asking for trouble? Our sick policy requires a doctor’s note containing a diagnosis

10/18/2012
Q. Our policy states employees must provide a doctor’s note if they take sick leave of three or more days. Are we violating any laws by demanding the doctor’s note, which includes a diagnosis?

Must we employ someone with allergies?

10/18/2012

Q. We recently hired someone we didn’t know has a severe allergy to peanuts. If she even smells peanut butter, she has a severe allergic reaction, requiring her to use an EpiPen and head to the emergency room. Could we have refused to hire her if we had known about her allergies?

7th Circuit: Disabled have preference for vacant jobs

10/18/2012
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against United Airlines in a disability accommodation case that could ultimately end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Beware ADA lawsuit when firing worker who had previous workers’ comp claim

10/18/2012

If you know an employee has previously been injured at work and collected a workers’ compensation settlement, you may consider transferring him for fear he’ll hurt himself again. Resist that temptation. Taking any kind of adverse em­­ployment action could be construed as discrimination based on disability or perceived disability.

Do we have to tolerate threats from bipolar worker?

10/17/2012

Q. After an employee threatened a co-worker with violence, we gave her a warning. When she did it again, she told her boss she was bipolar and going through a prescription change. She was unaware she made the comments. Do we have to tolerate this behavior now that we know she may be disabled?

ADA: Stand by truly essential job functions

10/12/2012
Courts usually defer to an em­­ployer’s designations of essential job functions as long as there’s a clear, reasonable explanation of why they are essential. That’s true even in compelling ADA cases where it’s clear a disabled employee is capable and could do the job if only she didn’t have to perform just one of those functions.

Can we require a diagnosis on a doctor’s note?

10/11/2012

Q. Our policy says that if employees are out due to illness or hospitalization for three days or more, they must provide a doctor’s note that includes a diagnosis. Someone said we can’t demand the diagnosis. Is this true?

ADA accommodations for caregivers?

10/09/2012

Under the ADA, employees who associate with disabled individuals can’t be discriminated against. But that doesn’t mean you are obligated to accommodate any schedule needs, provide additional time off or otherwise accommodate the employee so she can care for the disabled child.