Court papers claim age, disability as reasons for man's termination from plumbing supply company
Southeast Texas Record
A Harris County man alleges his age and disability were factors in his termination two years ago from a plumbing supply company.
Michael D. Fenley filed a lawsuit against Texas Plumbing Supply Co., Inc. on Feb. 20 in the Harris County 164th District Court, claiming the business treated him less favorably because he entered his seventies.
The suit says the discrimination in question began after Fenley suffered an on the job injury in May 2016.
The defendant reportedly gave Fenley “a hard time” about the aforementioned injury and was upset with the timing of the complainants’ physical therapy sessions.
Recent court papers further state that Fenley’s supervisor criticized the plaintiff for his age. Fenley was born in 1946.
Fenley additionally accuses the respondent of not maintaining an ADA-compliant facility and preventing him from parking close to the building despite his vehicle displaying an ADA placard.
His job responsibilities were “changed dramatically” following a medical procedure in June 2016, the original petition says.
The defendant terminated Fenley’s employment on Nov. 18, 2016, to which the suit says was done on false pretenses.
Consequently, the complainant seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
He is represented by Peter Costea of the Law Office of Peter Costea in Houston.
Harris County 164th District Court Case No. 2018-10944
You're Fired If You Go To Ghana! You Could Catch Ebola!
Lexology
Last year the EEOC sued a Tampa company under the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) for, as one EEOC official said, “Making employment decisions based on perceptions of disability [which] clearly violates federal civil rights law.”
What was this case about?
“Regarded As” Disability
Firing an employee if you perceive that he/she is disabled is just as violative of the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) as if he/she actually in fact had a disability.
So why was this Tampa employee fired?
Potential to contract Ebola isn't an ADA disability, court tells EEOC
HR Dive
- A federal district court has dismissed a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit alleging that the ability to contract Ebola is a disability.
- EEOC sued a Massage Envy franchisee in April, alleging that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it fired a massage therapist shortly after she asked for time off to visit her sister in Ghana. The owner feared the worker would contract Ebola if she traveled to the West African country, according to court documents. The commission said the action violated the ADA’s “regarded as” prong of the definition of disability — a standard that is, by design, easy to meet. It requires only that an employee show that he or she was subjected to an adverse action because of an actual or perceived physical or mental impairment.
- Acknowledging that the company’s actions were “deplorable,” the court said the worker had no existing rights under the ADA at the time of her termination, including no right to an accommodation, because she did not have a disability, she did not have a record of a disability, she was not regarded as having a disability, nor had she associated with any individuals known to have a disability. As a result, the company’s behavior was not actionable under the statute.
Prevention — and intervention — are key to fighting drug addiction at work
HR Dive
Drug addiction was no longer front-page news by the time President Ronald Reagan left the White House. But fast forward three decades, and a nationwide opioid addiction is making headlines news again, creating a resurgence in the use of deadly illegal substances.
Opioids are a family of drugs that includes heroin, synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, and pain relievers like oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine and morphine, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Prolonged use can lead to addiction and in 2016, opioids killed a record 42,000 people, the Centers for Disease Control says; 40% of those deaths involved a prescription opioid.
The impact of drug use on the workplace is substantial. But there are steps employers can take to both curb problems and prevent future abuse.
Legally blind law student now files discrimination suit against makers of LSAT
Legal News Line
A civil rights lawsuit filed by a blind law student has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan after he unsuccessfully sued the American Bar Association.
After having his original complaint, which charged that the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) discriminated against blind law students due to spatial reasoning and diagram questions and was filed against the ABA, was barred by the U.S. Supreme Court, Angelo Binno is now suing the Law School Admission Council.
Shelesha Taylor is asking to be added to the complaint as a plaintiff-intervenor.
Lawsuit raises doubts about Colorado Springs' commitment to comply with access laws
Colorado Springs Gazette
A recent lawsuit alleging that Colorado Springs has failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act echoes a problem the city has faced for decades.
The Gazette reported in 2015 that the city and El Paso County had fallen well short of the spirit and the letter of the ADA, leaving buildings and pathways inaccessible to the then-estimated 66,000 people with disabilities in the county. Many of those shortcomings fell into an unquantified backlog of noncompliance.
More than two years later, many of those shortcomings remain unquantified. And it seems the scope is expanding.
On Feb. 15, Stetson Hills residents Chris and Nikole Sweeney filed a lawsuit against the city and others alleging noncompliance with the ADA.
Since The Gazette's 2015 report, Colorado Springs formed a working group to discuss building codes and procedures to address accessibility concerns in the area. The group met perhaps five times before it was disbanded, said city spokeswoman Jamie Fabos. Its work yielded two city ordinances, one tightening parking standards and a second declaring property owners - not the city - as the sole bearer of responsibility to ensure compliance with federal ADA standards in new buildings.
City continues to up ADA compliance
Clinton Herald
At the city’s January ADA Advisory Commission meeting, 16 infraction notices were on the docket — though these minor issues aren’t uncommon.
Often, according to Battalion Chief Jeff Chapman — who is the city safety director and Building and Neighborhood Services supervisor — compliance issues pertain to accessibility for those with mobility disabilities. Of the 16 discussed, most were signage issues, which is also a violation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations in Clinton.
“At some point in time, everybody will have somebody in their family with a disability, so we are making improvements for everybody down the road,” said Gary McDermott, chairman of the ADA committee. “And it should be equal access for everybody.”
There is a multitude of compliance issues that come before the commission, and McDermott estimates many of those whom complaints are lodged against are willing to make changes. This was reflective in one month’s look at ADA compliance issues in Clinton.