Stipulation to Extend Claims Period: LSAC
The Lash Group Will Pay $75,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit
The Lash Group, a Charlotte, N.C.-based consulting company, will pay $75,000 and provide significant equitable relief to settle a federal disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.
According to the EEOC's suit, Meron Debru worked as a reimbursement case advocate at The Lash Group's Rockville, Md., facility when she went on maternity leave. She received short-term disability benefits while on maternity leave and advised the disability benefits carrier that she needed additional unpaid leave due to post-partum depression. The Lash Group initially fired her, but later extended her short-term disability leave.
After she was medically released to return to work, however, The Lash Group did not return Debru to her position because her position was filled. The Lash Group failed to provide the reasonable accommodation of transferring Debru to a vacant position for which she was qualified and instead fired her because of her disability in violation of federal law, the EEOC charged.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of disability. The ADA also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with a disability unless the employer can show that doing so would be an undue hardship. The EEOC filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Southern Division (EEOC v. The Lash Group, Civil Action No. 8:14-cv-03091-PJM), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
10th Circuit reverses EEOC win after lower court applied wrong ADA direct-threat standard
Lexology
On March 16, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals – which has jurisdiction over appeals from Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming – drove home that when it comes to jury instructions, the devil is in the details. Reasoning that a lower court jury “might have relied on the erroneous direct-threat standard,” the court reversed a verdict in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”).
Public Transport Gets Gap-Closing ADA Rules
Courthouse News Service
Transportation entities must make reasonable changes to policies and procedures to avoid discrimination and ensure individuals with disabilities access, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
This requirement is not a new obligation for public transportation entities receiving federal financial assistance, including the National Passenger Railroad Corporation (Amtrak), courts have identified an unintended gap in the Department of Transportation's Americans with Disabilities Act regulations, according to the action.
The department's ADA regulations required accommodations to individuals using public transportation services that use federal funding, but it did not specifically state that policies and procedures must change to avoid discrimination or to provide program accessibility to services, according to the action.
This final rule is meant to fill the gap.
Proposed Wellness Plan Legislation Responds To Lawsuits Filed By EEOC
Mondaq News Alerts
The United States House of Representatives' Education and the Workforce Committee will conduct a hearing on March 24, 2015 about the House version of a bill proposed to the Senate two weeks earlier—the "Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act" (S. 620) (H.R. 1189) (the "Bill").[1]
The Bill was introduced to the Senate on March 2, 2015 by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) with Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), and Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.).[2] The Bill seeks to clarify the law relating to "nondiscriminatory employer wellness programs" in the wake of several lawsuits filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") that have created uncertainty about the legality of these programs.
Hidden Disabilities: What's Your Responsibility to Accommodate?
Business Management Daily
While the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) says you must offer a “reasonable accommodation” to disabled employees, how obvious must the person’s disability be before you fall under that requirement? And what is the employee’s duty to alert you and request the accommodation?
Employer liable for terminating employee with homicidal ideations
HR.BLR.com
A Pennsylvania federal court recently ruled that an employer may be liable for terminating an employee with mental health problems under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), even if the employee communicates homicidal ideations to his supervisor.
Know It 2 Own It: Helping People with Disabilities Access Middle Class Careers
U.S. Department of Education (press release)
March is National Disability Awareness Month, a month dedicated to promoting awareness of the strengths and achievements of Americans with disabilities. Today, many people with disabilities are living and working in the community and pursuing higher education. Yet, even now folks with significant disabilities often face additional barriers when trying to find jobs.
Deaf immigrant jailed 6 weeks for I-pad theft with no access to interpreters
WJLA
He knew he was in jail, but he didn't know why.
Eventually, Abreham Zemedagegehu learned that he'd been accused of stealing an iPad - an iPad whose owner later found it. He spent the next six weeks in jail, unable to communicate with his jailers because he is deaf. He described a frightening, isolated experience in which medical procedures were performed without his consent and he feared for his safety.
Zemedagegehu sued the Arlington County sheriff last month in federal court, saying his treatment failed to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
How does a business accommodate a service animal?
New Hampshire Business Review
Figuring out compliance under sometimes murky ADA rules
A recent news story reported a woman brought a baby kangaroo into a local McDonald’s in Wisconsin, claiming, with a letter from her doctor, that the kangaroo was a “service animal” to help her cope with emotional distress. Another McDonald’s customer called the police, and the woman was asked to leave.
Settlement in HIV Termination Lawsuit Highlights Employer Confusion over ADA
Blue MauMau
A nationwide manufacturer and distributor of fruit juice will pay $125,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the EEOC on behalf of an employee who was terminated after the company learned he was HIV-positive. [See EEOC v. Gregory Packaging, Inc. (N.D. Ga.)] The fact that the employer specifically told the man he was being terminated because of his HIV status highlights continuing employer confusion over the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), even twenty-five years after its passage, and especially as it relates to employees with HIV/AIDS.
Texas man agrees to surrender 'service monkey' to shelter
Tyler Morning Telegraph
An Animal Care Services spokeswoman says a man has agreed to surrender a monkey he said was his service animal after it bit a bank employee in January.