Accommodation

by Renee Cocchi

January 11, 2022

Employer pays $215K to settle EEOC’s ADA suit

March 6, 2023

Employer pays $30K to pregnant nursing assistants

September 20, 2023

Feds to NJ employer: ‘That job termination violates the ADA’

A newly filed lawsuit says a New Jersey nursing home’s job termination of a longtime worker violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The employee’s lifting restriction did not prevent her from doing her job, the suit alleges, and the employer never talked to her to determine whether accommodation was possible – or even needed….

March 21, 2023

"The employee's lifting restriction did not prevent her from doing her job, the suit alleges, and the employer never talked to her to determine whether accommodation was possible – or even needed."

Fired for refusing COVID-19 vaccine: Do they get unemployment?

An employee who is fired for refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine – without showing entitlement to a legitimate religious or disability-related exemption – is likely to have a hard time collecting unemployment compensation benefits, two recent court rulings show. Though each state sets its own specific eligibility guidelines, these two rulings from Minnesota hinge…

November 15, 2022

Get ready: Religious accommodation duty may be expanding soon

The scope of the duty to provide religious accommodation to employees may well expand in 2023. On Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving a Christian mail carrier who resigned after being told he would have to work on Sundays. Lower courts ruled against the employee, but there are signs…

January 17, 2023

Get ready: Supreme Court raises the bar on religious accommodation duty

As we predicted, the U.S. Supreme Court has expanded the duty of employers to provide religious accommodation to employees under Title VII. The high Court did so via a unanimous decision that essentially redefines the concept of “undue hardship” in cases involving religious accommodation. Beginning immediately, employers must be prepared to do more to accommodate…

June 29, 2023

Hospitality employer failed to provide ADA reasonable accommodation, pays $43K

January 10, 2023

How a (good) job description can squelch an ADA lawsuit

One way to win an ADA lawsuit is to show that the applicant or employee is not able to perform the job’s essential functions. To do this, employers have to know what it takes to show that a particular function is truly “essential” to the position at issue. Sometimes, that line can get a little…

August 22, 2023

Is intern’s lip ring a reasonable accommodation? Manager’s mistake sends ADA case to trial

A manager’s mistake during discussions about an intern’s lip ring doomed an employer’s chance to nip an ADA case in the bud. Here’s what went wrong: In January 2017, an Arizona school district hired Addam Brown – a doctoral candidate at a nearby university – as a volunteer school psychologist intern. After Brown’s internship was…

September 18, 2023

Piercings at work: Court allows ADA case over lip rings

Is remote work a reasonable accommodation? 3 best practices

This case shows just how tricky things can get when the ADA and FMLA overlap. Here, an employee exhausted her FMLA leave and then sought an accommodation: remote work. When the company — a law firm — denied her request to work from home, the employee didn’t return to the office. Instead, she sued, alleging…

September 21, 2022

Employment Law Considerations For Remote Work

Job accommodation: New ruling sheds light on scope of employer duty

It’s been a nagging and frustrating question for employers for decades now: When it comes to providing reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities, exactly how far do I have to go? Savvy employers are well aware of the concept of engaging in an “interactive process” of finding a workable accommodation, which essentially entails an obligation…

November 17, 2022

Jury slams trucking company with $36M verdict for deaf driver

A federal jury in Omaha awarded more than $36 million in an ADA suit that claimed a truck driver was wrongfully denied a job because he is deaf. Victor Robinson applied for a job as a truck driver with Werner Enterprises in 2016. At the time, Robinson had completed truck driving school and obtained his…

September 5, 2023

Latest PUMP Act guidance: Feds release new compliance tool

Heads up, HR: The Department of Labor (DOL) just released new PUMP Act guidance to help employers comply with the law. As you probably recall, the agency just started PUMP Act enforcement last month — so the timing of this new resource is spot on. First things first: If you aren’t familiar with Field Assistance…

May 19, 2023

New compliance alert: PWFA takes effect on June 27

Mark your calendar: The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) goes into effect on June 27. We’ve got you covered on everything you need to know, including: 1. What the PWFA requires Earlier this year, we told you that President Biden signed new legislation to expand workplace protections for pregnant and lactating employees. Under the PWFA, employers with 15…

June 6, 2023

Heads up, HR: PWFA takes effect this month!

New disability bias suit echoes familiar theme

A new disability bias suit accuses the Salvation Army of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by terminating a cashier on the basis of his disability. Like a legion of cases before it, the suit says the events triggering the wrongful termination coincided precisely with what has proven to be a surprisingly dangerous move for…