EEOC Sues KTF Enterprises and Kirker Enterprises for Disability Discrimination
According to the EEOC's suit, after acquiring the Newburgh factory in 2015, the companies withheld reasonable accommodations from employees who needed them. For example, one longtime employee, whose leg is amputated below the knee and who uses a prosthesis, asked to have a stool to sit on so that he would not need to stand throughout his shift. The companies denied the request and instead later terminated him.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), when an employer is aware that an employee with a disability needs an accommodation in order to perform the essential functions of his job, it must provide an accommodation, unless doing so would be an undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (EEOC v. KTF Enterprises, Inc. and Kirker Enterprises, Inc., Civil Action No. 19-cv-6611) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC will seek back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and injunctive relief. The agency's litigation effort will be led by Trial Attorney Kirsten Peters and supervised by Supervisory Trial Attorney Justin Mulaire.
Mother files federal ADA complaint on Thompson Park playground
A mother has complained to the city that her 5-year-old boy cannot use the Thompson Park playground because she says it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Chantel Taylor has told city officials that the playground’s woodchip surface makes it almost impossible for her son, Ashton, to maneuver around the playground or use its equipment.
Service animal or not? Disability rep weighs in on Tybee dog incident
Last week, an Atlanta family told News 3 they were roughed up and arrested by a Tybee Police officer because of their service dog.
Their story made waves online raising questions about what qualifies an animal as a service dog and whether the family was within their rights.
Restaurant owners struggle with gray areas in ADA laws regarding service animals
You may have seen a person with their dog on a leash the last time you were at a restaurant or store. While some businesses may be dog friendly, dogs are not allowed inside restaurants unless they are a service animal.
But, many restaurants owners feel the law gives them no power to enforce that.
Employers Urged To Find New Ways To Address Workers’ Mental Health
The American Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, which includes certain mental health conditions, and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to help them get their jobs done. Some employers also offer mental health support for employees through employee assistance programs, known as EAPs, which provide services such as short-term counseling and referrals to treatment for substance use.
High-Speed Rail wipes key documents from website
The High-Speed Rail Authority removed a vast array of documents – including business plans, authority board meeting materials, and change orders on the multi-billion dollar project – prior to 2016.
Monday, Asm. Jim Patterson (R-Fresno) demanded the return of the documents.
According to a letter sent by Patterson to the High-Speed Rail Authority, the agency removed the documents around June 28.
“The Authority claims to have replaced dozens of change orders with ADA compliant spreadsheets but has no intention of returning these important documents in long form to the website,” Patterson said.
The Authority’s website also removed many antiquated business plans prepared before 2016 that show the dramatic increase in costs associated to build the rail line.
Because of the mass removal of documents, anyone seeking to retrieve the documents must do so through the California Public Records Act (PRA) process.
Unlike similar requests at the municipal level, public records requests for state agencies are considerably more cumbersome and often result in costly lawsuits for production of documents.
Recently, Asm. Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) proposed a bill to create a public ombudsman that would review requests as an intermediate step before for PRA rejections before heading to the courthouse.
That bill, Assembly Bill 289, was momentarily killed by Assembly Democrats while under review in committee.
“It’s sad but true that [High-Speed Rail is] using the Americans with Disability Act as a cover to remove potentially embarrassing information from the public domain,” Patterson said. “We won’t stand for it. There’s no reason why these documents shouldn’t be permanent and immediately available to every member of the public along with ADA compliant data.”