WCAG 2.0 AA Gains Prominence as Website Accessibility Standard
JD Supra
The U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) finalized a regulation this week that will make the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) Level AA the design standard when interpreting and implementing Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires federal agencies and contractors to make their websites accessible to disabled individuals. Affected federal agencies and contractors will have one year from the publication of the final rule to comply with the revised 508 standards, which would place the compliance deadline sometime in early 2018.
How to Manage ADA Website Compliance
Lexology
Since 2015, over 240 businesses across the country have been sued by plaintiffs alleging their websites fail to provide access to people with certain disabilities. Many more businesses and financial institutions have received demand letters from a Pittsburgh law firm offering to “work constructively” for a fee. Regardless of courts’ variances of their application of the Americans with Disabilities Act to websites, plaintiffs strong-arm their targets into settlement agreements by using favorable arguments from previous lawsuits that have held the ADA applies to websites.
Tips For Accommodating Depression, PTSD, and Other Employee Mental Illnesses
Lexology
An estimated 16.1 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode in 2015, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. This number represents 6.7% of all adults age 18 or older in the U.S. About 7 or 8 out of every 100 people will have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in their lives, says the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, National Center for PTSD. That number goes up to about 11 to 20 out of every 100 for veterans who served in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
As these number show, depression, PTSD, and other mental illnesses are relatively prevalent in our society. At some point, you will be faced with an employee who suffers from a mental condition and you need to know your obligations related to potential accommodations for such employees. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently released information to help explain workplace rights for employees with mental health conditions under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Incorporating the EEOC’s guidance, here are our top practical tips for accommodating individuals with mental impairments.
Group Files Complaint About American Airlines' Allergy Pre-Boarding Policy
Consumerist
In many cases, airlines will do everything they can to accommodate passengers with severe allergies: from refraining from passing out complimentary peanuts to allowing travelers to board early to prepare their spaces. But one group claims that American Airline’s policies aren’t so accommodating, filing a federal complaint against the carrier.
The Dallas Morning News reports that nonprofit advocacy group Food Allergy Research and Education filed a federal complaint against American last week asking the Department of Transportation to investigate the carrier’s policy of not allowing passengers with severe nut allergies from pre-boarding planes.
Cook County Record
A decision by the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Ga., says employers are not required by the Americans with Disabilities Act to surrender the search for the best qualified candidate for a job when considering a disability accommodation job transfer request from a disabled employee.
And since the result differs from a ruling on a similar question in the Chicago-based U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, the question may ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Eleventh Circuit decision came in the case U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) v. St. Joseph’s Hospital, Inc., in which a disabled nurse looked to be transferred, under an ADA accommodation, into a new position after a disability left her needing to use a cane, which proved to be a safety issue in the psychiatric ward in which she worked.
No medical report means no accommodation
EmployerLINC
Although the Army Ammunition Depot is located in McAlester, it was a Muskogee federal court that upheld an employer’s right to require adequate medical support before granting an employee’s request their job be modified on account of health needs.
ADA Compliance: What Hotels Need to Know
Hotel Business
Service dogs are working animals, not pets. They are individually trained to perform tasks for a person with disabilities. As an industry focused on providing a high level of comfort, it is imperative that hoteliers are well versed and—more so, compliant—in the standards outlined in the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), including permitting proper access to hotels. The stakes are high. A failure to comply with ADA guidelines can pose a risk to the brand’s reputation, as well as costly penalties, civil rights issues, negative feedback on travel websites and more.
Colorado Criminalizes Acts Taken to Pass Pets Off as Service Animals
Lexology
The State of Colorado passed a new law criminalizing the intentional act of misrepresenting your pet as a service animal. Pursuant to HB16-1426, it is illegal to intentionally misrepresent your pet as an assistance, companion, or emotional support animal to avoid pet fees or have an animal in housing that otherwise does not allow animals. The new law was made effective January 1, 2017.
Employee Can Proceed On ADA Claim That He Was Discriminated Against On Account Of Severe Obesity
WorkersCompensation.com (press release)
Mark Richardson worked for the Chicago Transit Authority as a Bus Operator from 1999 to 2012. He took an extended medical leave from work and attempted to return to his job in September 2010. The Authority sent plaintiff for a fitness exam, and the doctor cleared Richardson to return to work. He was next required to submit to a safety assessment, which he contended turned out to be different than the normal safety assessment required of bus operators.
NMPASI: ADA violators can be fined $100 a day
Saipan Tribune
Businesses that continue to violate the Americans with Disabilities Act can face a fine of $100 a day, reminded Northern Marianas Protection and Advocacy Systems, Inc. executive director James Rayphand.
Speaking before the Saipan Rotary Club weekly meeting last week at the Hyatt Regency Saipan, Rayphand said his office is very aggressive in upholding its mandate to provide legal-based advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities and ADA is one such law that NMPASI wants to advocate.
Luzerne County reaches settlement with government over election polling place accessibility
Wilkes Barre Times-Leader
Luzerne County has reached a settlement with the federal government to make election polling places more accessible to people with disabilities, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced Friday.
The settlement stems from a survey of 52 of the county’s 180 polling place locations during the Nov. 3, 2015, general election, U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler said in a public release.
During this review, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and an architect from the Department of Justice found “many of the county’s polling places contain barriers to access for persons with disabilities,” the release said.
EEOC Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Unlawful Harassment
Lexology
The EEOC is seeking public comment on proposed enforcement guidance addressing unlawful workplace harassment under the federal anti-discrimination laws enforced by the agency – namely, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). If adopted by the EEOC, the enforcement guidance would supersede four existing EEOC guidance documents issued during the 1990s, as well as a section of the EEOC Compliance Manual on harassment.
County reaches settlement to improve polling accessibility for disabled
Citizens Voice
When the United States Attorney’s Office surveyed Luzerne County polling places in 2015, the agency found many of the sites had barriers to access for people with disabilities.
Now, the county is agreeing to make changes, the Department of Justice announced Friday.