Settlement Agreement:
Doggone it! When an Employee is Allergic to a Coworker's Service Animals
SHRM
Who knew?
I received a lot of feedback on last week’s post. That was the one about an EEOC lawsuit alleging that a company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it allegedly failed to accommodate a disabled employee’s request to use a service dog.
Among the reader feedback was a question about what happens when permitting an employee to use a service dog would cause another employee’s pet allergies to flare up.
Back to basics under the ADA
The purpose of the ADA is to enable a qualified employee or applicant with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job by affording that individual a reasonable accommodation. Indeed, an employer must make a reasonable accommodation to the known disability of a qualified applicant or employee if it would not impose an “undue hardship” on the operation of the employer’s business.
In the case about which I blogged last week, the EEOC claimed that a trained service dog would have enabled the employee to help control anxiety and to wake him from nightmares caused by post-traumatic stress disorder. More importantly, it would have allowed the employee to perform the essential functions of the job without creating any undue hardship.
Making another employee sick is undue hardship, right?
The EEOC defines undue hardship as an action requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of factors such as an employer’s size, financial resources, and the nature and structure of its operation. In particular, an employer does not have to lower quality or production standards to make an accommodation.
Thus, it makes sense that helping one employee, while making another less productive, causes undue hardship.
So, allergies should trump service dog.
So, continue the interactive dialogue and explore other options.
Exploring ADA accommodations is an interactive process that requires both employer and employee to discuss various options in good faith. If a service animal causes another employee to get sick, there may still be ways to thread the needle.
Same plaintiffs file multiple ADA lawsuits
Daytona Beach News-Journal
A disabled woman has sued Richard Pagano's pizzeria, claiming it doesn't have handicapped parking or enough space for her to maneuver her wheelchair.
His business isn't the only one singled out by the plaintiff, Pamela Collins, records show. Collins has filed complaints in a total of nine Americans with Disabilities Act cases during the past few months.
A last laugh on ADA vs. Berkeley online courses?
Overlawyered
Those free online course materials may be gone from the University of California, Berkeley, courtesy of a U.S. Deparment of Justice interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and related statutes, but they’re not gone from the Internet: “20,000 Worldclass University Lectures Made Illegal, So We Irrevocably Mirrored Them” [LBRY] Won’t that infringe on a lot of copyrights? The site claims not: “The vast majority of the lectures are licensed under a Creative Commons license that allows attributed, non-commercial redistribution.” Earlier coverage here, here, here, and here.
As someone put it, it looks as if the internet recognizes ADA litigation as damage and routes around it.
Filed under: online speech, RIAA and file sharing, web accessibility
State and federal legislation take new aim at predatory ADA lawsuits
Modesto Bee
The legislative fight against disability-based predatory lawsuits continues on state and national levels with new bills by Democratic Assemblyman Adam Gray and Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham.
Both lawmakers condemn shakedowns of businesses by plaintiffs demanding thousands of dollars to settle lawsuits based on the Americans with Disabilities Act and California laws making such challenges especially lucrative in this state.
“This is totally legalized extortion,” said Gray, of Merced, whose new bill relies on a creative twist that would label professional victims as “extremely high-frequency litigants.” Gray added, “They target small businesses that lack the financial resources to fight in court.”
In a release, Turlock’s Denham said, “It’s a disgrace that the owners and operators of these local businesses are falling victim to predatory lawsuits.”
In the wake of lawsuits, local businesses learn about ADA compliance
Benitolink: San Benito County News
The cost of bringing a building into compliance can be less than the cost of settling a lawsuit, presenter says