When alcohol abuse enters the workplace
Idaho Business Review
Football powerhouse USC fired its head football coach, Steve Sarkisian, in October after it was widely reported that he had been under the influence of alcohol during several team events. His termination provides a lesson for any employer wondering how it should handle the sometimes-touchy situation involving possible alcohol abuse by an employee.
What should an employer do if it believes one of its employees is under the influence at work? It may come as a surprise that the employer does not have the unfettered right to treat employees with alcohol problems in any manner it sees fit. That’s because the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Oregon’s disability law consider alcoholism a protected disability. In other words, if an employer fires someone because it knows or suspects the person is an alcoholic, an ADA claim could be forthcoming.
ADA: Does Washington employer have the right to discharge employee for lingering wound?
HR.BLR.com
The Washington Court of Appeals, Division III, recently reversed a trial court’s decision to grant summary judgment (pretrial dismissal) to a health clinic that discharged a medical assistant because of a lingering wound on her abdomen. The employer conceded that the wound constituted a disability and that it discharged the employee because of the wound.
However, the clinic argued, among other things, that it had no obligation to reasonably accommodate the employee because the wound posed an unacceptable risk of infection no matter what job she occupied. The court of appeals found many triable issues of fact, reversed the trial court’s decision, and sent the case back for further proceedings.
Gates: Don't forget about those with disabilities
Jackson Clarion Ledger
It barely made news coverage Christmas Day when Timothy Ward was struck and killed by a motorist while riding in his wheelchair on a Jackson street………………….
Jackson disability rights advocate Scott Crawford, who also uses a wheelchair, said Ward is the fourth disabled person in a wheelchair to be killed in a traffic mishap since 2010.
Often, disabled people have to ride wheelchairs on Jackson streets because there are no sidewalks or the sidewalks are so deteriorated that they are inaccessible to wheelchairs, Crawford said.
Questions About Autism Action for Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton
Age of Autism
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, spoke at a town hall meeting about developmental disabilities and autism on December 29, 2015 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.