Henry’s Turkey Service, Heirs Must Turn over Almost $600,000 Owed to Disabled Workers
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had asked the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of Texas to monitor a suspicious land deal -- a financial arrangement that would have resulted in a total of approximately $600,000 changing hands in settlement of an action for declaratory judgment filed in Mills County, Texas, where Henry's Turkey Service was based. As a result, the U.S. attorney's office found evidence of what it found to be a fraudulent transaction and filed an emergency motion for a court intervention.
Xerox State Healthcare, LLC Sued By EEOC For Disability Discrimination
According to EEOC's complaint, Victoria Dozier, who is diagnosed with end stage renal disease and receives hemodialysis treatment as a result, received a written employment offer from Xerox Healthcare on September 2014. The employment offer was contingent upon successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening. Although Dozier was willing to undergo drug screening, she informed both the company and the lab representative at the drug testing facility, her disability prevented her from providing a urine sample. The complaint alleges Dozier also informed both Xerox Healthcare and the lab representative her dialysis center would perform a drug test in place of the urine testing. Xerox Healthcare denied the request and Dozier was not hired.
The alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to provide qualified disabled employees, as well as applicants, with reasonable accommodations, including during the application process. EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Xerox State Healthcare, LLC, Civil Action No. 3:15-cv-00427) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
Macomb County swim club settles with feds over ADA claim
The Macomb Daily
A Harrison Township- and St. Clair Shores-based youth swim club has reached a settlement with federal officials over a complaint claiming it violated the disability rights of an autistic swimmer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit.
The Lakers Aquatic Club and federal prosecutors came to an agreement related to an allegation the female swimmer and her family asked for a modification to allow her to continue to participate in club activities, and the club suspended the family in retaliation.
Federal officials said the actions violated the U.S. Americans With Disabilities Act because the club failed to make reasonable modifications for a swimmer with a disability and retaliated against the swimmer and her family.
Under the agreement, the club will adopt a disability nondiscrimination policy to include procedures for handling requests to reasonably modify club policies for disabled individuals, along with a statement that the club will not retaliate against people who exercise their ADA rights, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Friday in a news release.
HIV-infected man sues Missouri air ambulance company, alleging wrongly reassigned
The Republic
An HIV-positive man is suing a St. Louis-area air ambulance service in federal court, alleging he was wrongly removed from his job as a paramedic and reassigned to a dispatch center because of his illness.
Clinton Moore alleges in his St. Louis lawsuit that the decision by Air Evac Lifeteam to reassign him to a dispatch center was driven by "misconceptions, outdated beliefs, and irrational fears," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday.
Insisting he poses no health threat, Moore accuses Air Evac of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Missouri Human Rights Act.
Lawsuit Filed Against City of Sherwood, Alleges Americans with Disabilities Act Violations
KARK
A lawsuit was filed against the city of Sherwood on Tuesday that alleges multiple violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to court records.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of city resident Chris Jensen, states that Jensen visited a number of city premises and was denied "full, safe and equal access to the subject properties due to its lack of compliance with the ADA."
Employer's "full release" of limitations requirement proves costly in EEOC action
Lexology
A requirement that an employee be "fully released" from limitations before returning to work from Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave cost one employer more than $100,000 after being investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). When Bernadine Adams went on FMLA leave due to her fibromyalgia, Brookdale Senior Living Center required that she be "fully released" by her doctor from any restrictions or accommodations before she returned to work. Brookdale eventually terminated Adams due to a breakdown in the accommodation process. The EEOC filed suit on behalf of the employee, alleging that the "fully released" requirement violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). To settle the charges, Brookdale agreed to pay Adams $112,500 as back pay and compensatory damages; the company also promised to provide additional training to its employees and managers on the ADA and report any new complaints of disability discrimination or retaliation to the agency. The agency said the case provided an important lesson for employers, who should "know that imposing a requirement that employees be without any restrictions whatsoever in order to return to work is a recipe for disaster," as EEOC Regional Attorney Mary Jo O'Neill said in a statement.
When Mental Health Issues Affect the Workplace: Doing It Right
Corporate Counsel
Sixteen million Americans live with major depression and 42 million live with anxiety disorders, according to Michael Lasky of Davis & Gilbert. Given the numbers alone, it’s no surprise that dealing with employees who have mental health issues is a major issue for companies, but one they don’t always get right. Here are some of Lasky’s suggested best practices for protecting both the employer and employee when mental health is impacting the workplace.
Facing Lawsuits From Disabled Groups, Uber Has Found a Surprising Supporter
Re/code
Uber has faced huge criticism from the disability community for not adhering to the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
It’s fighting several lawsuits on the matter — against blind people with seeing eye dogs who have been rejected by Uber drivers and against passengers in wheelchairs whose drivers refused to fit the device in the car. In one of these cases, Uber’s legal defense argued that it’s not responsible for upholding the ADA because it’s a virtual service and doesn’t own its cars.
How One Man Is Helping Businesses Reach More Customers With Cost-Effective, Inclusive Products
Entrepreneur
Twenty-five years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Patrick Hughes Jr., founder and CEO of Inclusion Solutions, still hears of gaps in its coverage. In a recent meeting, Hughes learned that Joe Martin, an alderman with quadriplegia, can’t get through the doors of 95 percent of the businesses in his town of Appleton, Wis., even though most are ostensibly ADA-compliant.
Disability Alliance fights to end ableism
Virginia Tech Collegiate Times
Disability is often painted as a tragedy, but the Disability Alliance at Virginia Tech hopes to end that by creating a safe space where community members can meet and talk about what it is like to be disabled. The alliance is also working towards ending ableism on campus, hoping to ensure equal rights and access for people who are disabled.
Groups: R.I. Bar questionnaire violates applicants' rights
The Providence Journal
The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Rhode Island Disability Law Center are raising civil rights concerns about questions dealing with mental health and substance abuse posed to prospective lawyers seeking admission to practice law in Rhode Island.
The two organizations this week filed a complaint with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice alleging that the state Supreme Court and its Committee on Character and Fitness are violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by requiring people seeking admission to the Rhode Island Bar to answer "broadly worded" questions about past drug and alcohol use, mental illness and other disabilities. The complaint asserts that the questions inappropriately presume "a link between diagnoses and treatment and the ability to practice law" and require people to reveal sensitive health care information, in violation of the ADA.
Health Policy Brief: Rebalancing Medicaid Long-Term Services And Supports
Health Affairs (blog)
A new policy brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) examines the changed landscape of Medicaid long-term services and support (LTSS) spending 25 years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
In the past, most of that funding was earmarked for institutional care. That has now shifted to home and community-based settings (HCBS) — and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) projects that by 2020, 63 percent of all Medicaid LTSS spending will be outside of institutional settings, although Medicaid’s statute continues to promote an “institutional bias.”
As the brief notes, Congress has provided options and incentives for states to develop noninstitutional service care for nonelderly Medicaid beneficiaries, most significantly through the Affordable Care Act (ACA); however, state progress in this area has been uneven, ranging from 25.5 percent of total LTSS spending in Mississippi to 78.9 percent in Oregon.
The brief outlines the elements within the Medicaid programs that will enable future reform and support consumer-centered services.