ADA Suit Against Steak 'N Shake Wins Class Approval
The Legal Intelligencer
A lawsuit alleging the Steak 'n Shake restaurant chain violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not having adequate accessibility for handicapped patrons has been granted class action status.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert C. Mitchell of the Western District of Pennsylvania granted lead plaintiffs Christopher Mielo and Sarah Heinzl's motion for class approval April 27 in their case against Steak 'n Shake Operations Inc.
The class includes "[a]ll persons with qualified mobility disabilities who were or will be denied the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations of any Steak 'n Shake restaurant location in the United States on the basis of a disability because such persons encountered accessibility barriers at Steak'n Shake restaurants where defendant owns, controls and/or operates the parking facilities."
SC court awards Lowe's employee workers' comp disability benefits
JD Supra
Employee disabilities are becoming a common issue that employers must address. Short- and long-term disability plans employers often make available to employees, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the varying definitions in state workers’ compensation statutes can create difficult decisions for employers. The South Carolina Supreme Court recently issued a decision on disabilities in the workers’ comp context. Read on to see how the court addressed the issue.
Baltimore hospital settles allegations of disability discrimination with $180,000 payment
Legal News Line
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced April 27 that Harbor Hospital Inc., trading as MedStar Hospital, will pay $179,576 after allegations of federal disability discrimination.
"Health care providers, like all employers, must be mindful of the obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation that allows an employee with a disability to remain employed," said EEOC Philadelphia district office director Spencer H. Lewis Jr. "It's not only a good employment practice to retain loyal and productive workers; it's required by federal law."
Judge: Application provision sends blind man's ADA suit vs cooking school to arbitration
Cook County Record
federal judge has ordered a blind man’s discrimination complaint against a Chicago cooking school out of his courtroom and into arbitration.
In an opinion issued April 20, U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso said the dispute over Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines between Eric Chausse and the operator of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts does not belong in his courtroom.
Chausse, who is legally blind, said Career Education Corporation, Le Cordon Bleu’s parent company, wrongly denied him enrollment at its Chicago cooking school. CEC and the school are named defendants in his complaint, as are CEC Food and Beverage, LLC, and the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago Inc.
Le Cordon Bleu denied Chausse’s admission application with an October 2014 letter, citing Chausse’s blindness. But Chausse said the school failed to offer reasonable accommodations.
Interconnect project to be ADA compliant
Mohave Valley News
In order for the Interstate 40 to Arizona Hwy. 95 interconnect project to be ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliant 15 power poles will have to be relocated out of intersections and sidewalks.
Single-click ADA lawsuits: high-speed claims against non-compliant business
Lexology
Cat's paw theory applies to FMLA retaliation claims; employee's FMLA and ADA reprisal claims revived
After concluding that the cat's paw theory of liability applies to claims of FMLA retaliation, a divided Sixth Circuit found the court below erred in granting summary judgment against the FMLA and ADA retaliation claims of an employee demoted and then fired after taking time off for mental health issues. Fact issues existed as to whether her supervisors influenced an intermediate decisionmaker's demotion decision and as to whether the supervisors influenced the intermediate decisionmaker, who then influenced the company owner's decision to fire the employee. Summary judgment was affirmed, however, against her FMLA interference and state-law intentional infliction of emotion distress claims. Judge Sutton concurred in part and dissented in part. ( Marshall v Rawlings Co, LLC, 6thCir, April 20, 2017, Moore, K.)
Claims of ongoing harassment support employee's ADA hostile work environment claim
A terminated call center employee with numerous health issues that prevented her from performing her job, with or without accommodation, could not proceed on her ADA discrimination and retaliation, or FMLA retaliation claims, a federal district court in New Hampshire ruled. The employer granted every accommodation the employee requested, and both the employee and her doctor stated that her asthma and breathing problems prevented her from returning to work and performing her job. However, the court found sufficient evidence of a continuous pattern of disability-related harassment throughout her employment to proceed on her ADA hostile work environment claim. (Duryea v MetroCast Cablevision of New Hampshire, LLC, DNH, April 21, 2017, McCafferty, L.)
Financial analyst on autism spectrum wasn't qualified, even with telecommuting accommodation
A senior financial analyst with autism spectrum disorder was unable to perform the essential functions of his position, either before or after he informed his employer of his disability and was allowed to telecommute four days a week as an accommodation. Therefore, a federal district court in Ohio granted summary judgment to his employer on his disability discrimination and failure-to-accommodate claims under the ADA. ( Preston v Great Lakes Specialty Finance, Inc, SDOhio, April 18, 2017, Black, T.)
Dispute over whether fired employee left voicemails about illness raised triable issues on FMLA and workers' comp claims
An employee who claimed he left voicemails for his supervisors about his medical condition but was fired for allegedly violating a "two-day no-call, no-show" policy, and who had filed a workers' compensation claim and had been recently told he did not qualify for FMLA leave, defeated summary judgment on his claims under the FMLA and for workers' compensation retaliation. A federal court in Tennessee determined that in addition to ample evidence suggesting a causal connection, triable issues existed as to whether the company "honestly believed" he violated the policy based on his disputed assertion that he left the emails. (Edmonds v Gestamp Chattanooga, LLC, EDTenn, April 17, 2017, Collier, C.)
Attorney addresses suspicious ADA lawsuits in court; client a no-show
KOB 4
The attorney who sued nearly 100 Albuquerque business owners over alleged Americans with Disabilities Act violations took tough questions from a judge and from the media about the case Monday.
That attorney Sharon Pomeranz and her client were supposed to be in federal court to prove that the cases weren't frivolous or malicious. Pomeranz was alone facing 26 defense attorneys representing 99 businesses.
Pomeranz and her client Alyssa Carton filed the 99 lawsuits claiming businesses along Lomas, Eubank, Juan Tabo and San Mateo violated the ADA requirements. The sheer volume of lawsuits alarmed the court and a federal judge ordered they both explain themselves.