Alabama train conductor wins ADA jury verdict
Opelika Auburn News
Common Sense Counsel: With the advent of the ADAAA and the expansion of the definition of a disability, an employer’s best chance to defeat a disability discrimination claim may require the employer to show that the plaintiff was not a qualified individual. This case provides a model for how not to raise the “unqualified” defense in defending an ADA claim.
WL credit union reaches ADA complaint settlement
Hartford Business
A Windsor Locks credit union has been forced to revise its access policies after a customer's Americans with Disabilities Act complaint with the the U.S. Dept. of Justice.
A hard-of-hearing customer of 360 Federal Credit Union filed a complaint after the bank allegedly refused to offer a video relay service.
Under an agreement reached with the Department of Justice, 360 Federal Credit Union will pay a small, undisclosed monetary sum to compensate the individual for expenses incurred from the credit union's failure to accept his video relay calls. The agreement also requires 360 Federal Credit Union to accept video relay calls in all of its credit union locations and amend its policies, practices, and training to ensure the removal of barriers to access at its branch offices.
AMC Theatres Being Sued for Discrimination Against the Blind
Variety
Several blind individuals, the California Council of the Blind and the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired have filed a nationwide class action lawsuit against AMC Theatres. The lawsuit alleges that AMC is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and are failing to provide properly functioning audio description technology.
Wisconsin: Are temporary medical conditions considered disabilities?
HR.BLR.com
Employers have a duty to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities who need accommodations to perform the duties of their positions. A temporary leave of absence can be a reasonable accommodation, especially if it is relatively short.
Conversely, an indefinite leave of absence generally is not a reasonable accommodation because the accommodation of not working does not help an employee perform her duties.
Accommodation cases frequently involve a convergence of federal and state laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the WFEA, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Wisconsin Family and Medical Leave Act (WFMLA), and the Wisconsin Worker's Compensation Act. Employers must proceed cautiously and are well-advised to obtain legal counsel to help navigate accommodation issues.
Handling Applicant Criminal Records to Avoid Disability Discrimination Claims
Lexology
With the 2016 hiring season well under way, California employers are well advised to reconsider their use of criminal records in making hiring decisions. Although employers are probably aware of “ban the box” and other legislative initiatives, they may not be as familiar with the liability exposure they may create by when using blanket policies to reject applicants because of their criminal histories.
According to an EEOC survey, 92% of employers subject at least some candidates to criminal background checks. Since issuing guidelines on the use of criminal records in 2012, the EEOC has embarked on an aggressive campaign against employer use of criminal records in employment prescreening. While some EEOC lawsuits have failed, others have resulted in multimillion dollar settlements, such as a $3.13 million prelawsuit settlement with Pepsi. Each time, the EEOC has focused on whether the employer’s reliance on criminal records has an adverse impact on applicants with protected characteristics, such as race, national origin, or disability. Of particular note to California employers, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”), has recently become more active in pursuing individual and class-based claims, under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”), California’s counterpart to Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).
Inside Indiana Business
Question: When is an employer not required to give accommodations to a disabled worker?
Answer: When the employee doesn't need them to perform the essential functions of his job.
That's what the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago held in a recent decision, Hooper v. Proctor Health Care Inc.
Proposed Bill Addresses Impairment in the Workplace
Maine Public Broadcasting
Many Maine workers believe that prescription drugs and medicinal marijuana are helping them cope with health conditions that might otherwise keep them off the job. But what if there’s an accident in the workplace involving a medicated worker?
Restaurants, developers, other businesses face wave of ADA lawsuits related to parking
Phoenix Business Journal
More than 50 Phoenix-area businesses have been sued over alleged American with Disabilities Act violations related to handicapped and van accessible disabled parking.
A group called Advocates for American Disabled Individuals LLC and David Ritzenthaler are listed as plaintiffs in 58 lawsuits filed against a host of businesses this month.
Lawsuit seeks improved 911 for the deaf
Sierra Vista Herald
A federal lawsuit filed last week aims to improve access to 911 service for the estimated 82,000 Arizonans who are deaf or hard of hearing, and although the only defendants named are State of Arizona and Maricopa County officials, the plaintiffs’ legal counsel says other counties and cities are expected to be added as defendants.
Disabled Man Sues Dozens of Arizona Businesses Over Handicapped Parking Spaces
Lexology
Arizona has quickly become ground-zero for lawsuits arising under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Previously, I blogged here and here about two other serial plaintiffs who had filed more than 200 lawsuits against Arizona hotels, restaurants, bars and other places of public accommodation, alleging an assortment of ADA violations. Right when those lawsuits were beginning to slow and business owners started breathing sighs of relief, another serial plaintiff has emerged.
Jurors award $450K to former MC comptroller on ADA discrimination claims
Madison County Record
Jurors in federal court awarded $450,000 to former Madison County comptroller Linda Dunnagan, on a discrimination claim against county treasurer Kurt Prenzler.
Eight jurors returned the verdict in the court of District Judge Staci Yandle on Feb. 11, after three days of trial.
Dunnagan sued Prenzler in 2014, alleging he fired her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Nurse with migraines fired for taking nap can’t show FMLA violation
A hospital nurse who was fired after falling asleep in an unoccupied room where she had gone to deal with a migraine headache was not denied her rights under the FMLA, because although she had been approved to take intermittent leave for migraines, she had failed to notify anyone she needed to take a break, held a federal district court in Ohio, dismissing her FMLA claims on summary judgment. Also, even if she never intended to nod off, the hospital honestly believed its reason for firing her, so she could not show pretext. (Lasher v Medina Hospital, NDOhio, February 5, 2016, Boyko, C.)
Stevie Wonder advocates accessibility for disabled people during Grammys
Examiner.com
Though the United States has made great strides in equal opportunity for people with disabilities since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1995, Wonder's comments prove that we as a nation have a long way to go before inclusiveness is truly the way of the present, and not something that continues to need advocacy. Since February is AMD and Low Vision Awareness Month, it's a great time to learn more about low vision.
Cessna Aircraft Company to Pay over $160,000 In EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit
EEOC's lawsuit charged that Wichita, Kan.-based Cessna failed to make the required individualized assessment of the ability of conditional employees to perform the essential functions of jobs but instead relied on workers' compensation standards. The violations were found in Milwaukee and Wichita based on what appeared to be a company-wide policy. In one case, Cessna required a conditional employee to meet national maximum medical improvement standards to be eligible to work, despite the employee providing medical documentation that he could work without restriction. Cessna rescinded the job offer of this employee on the basis that he would not reach maximum medical improvement within a specified time period. In another case, EEOC said, Cessna withdrew its job offer from an employee with a history of workers' compensation restrictions without regard for his subsequent improvement and ability to provide medical documentation of his ability to work without restriction.
This alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Cessna Aircraft Company No. 2:15-cv-01166) against Cessna in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in September 2015 after first trying to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
The consent decree settling the suit, signed by U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman, requires Cessna to pay two former conditional employees a combined $167,500, prohibits any such discrimination in the future, and requires reporting to EEOC for two years. Cessna must also create a new ADA policy that explicitly states that applicants are not required to meet maximum medical improvement or have a permanent disability prior to being eligible for an accommodation. The decree also limits additional medical inquiries required for those conditional employees with impairments who have provided medical documentation of ability to work without restriction, and ties additional medical inquiries to the essential functions of the job.
In addition, Cessna must train its human resources and health services employees on disability discrimination, reasonable accommodation and retaliation under the ADA, as well as on the interplay of workers' compensation laws and the ADA. A Cessna executive-level employee will personally address the staff before every training session with a message that Cessna takes its obligation under all equal employment opportunity laws seriously and will state Cessna's non-retaliation policy.
Commissioners stall on ADA issue
Highlands Today
Should Highlands County spend $110,000 to determine whether its most-used buildings comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act?
Fresno Bee
As a property owner in Fresno, I am appalled that there are people preying on small business for personal financial gain. One group has made demands recently for money and threatened to sue small business owners, mainly near downtown, for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Why Disability Rights California is suing Pasadena Unified School district?
The Pasadena Star-News
A disability rights group has filed a class-action lawsuit against the Pasadena Unified School District alleging the school discriminates against students with behavioral issues by removing them from their local schools.
Disability Rights California claims the district has violated the students’ rights by sending them to Focus Point Academy, a separate school with roughly 80 students with behavior disabilities. Those students get a lesser experience, with fewer extracurricular activities and electives, according to the lawsuit