Settlement Agreement: Walgreen Company
EEOC Sues Agri-AFC for Disability Discrimination
Agri-AFC, LLC, a Poplarville, Miss., agriculture retailer, violated federal law when it fired an employee with a pre-existing back condition, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced Friday.
According to the EEOC's lawsuit, the employee worked at Agri-AFC's Poplarville facility as a driver / warehouse worker. When Agri-AFC's district manager learned that the employee was taking medication for a back injury he had suffered during military service, Agri-AFC demanded a list of his medications. Less than a week after he provided the list, Agri-AFC fired him and told him the district manager felt he was a liability to the company because of his back injury and feared he would injure himself further, the EEOC said.
Agri-AFC's alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against individuals who are actually disabled, regarded as disabled or have a record of disability. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Agri-AFC, LLC; Civil Action No. 1:20-cv-114-LG-RHW in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
"Employers should remember that the ADA provides protections to many applicants and employees who take prescription medication and limits the rights of employers to inquire about such use," said Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC's Birmingham District Office. "Further, the ADA prohibits employers from taking action against such individuals based on assumptions or fears that they will be liabilities instead of assets."
Bradley Anderson, district director of the EEOC's Birmingham District Office, added, "As we approach the 30th anniversary of the ADA's passage, by pursuing actions such as this, the EEOC continues to carry out Congress's clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against persons with disabilities and to play a key role in enforcing the ADA's requirements."
Disability advocates have filed lawsuits over e-scooters in San Diego and Minneapolis. Is Boise next?
Since 2018, electronic scooters have become increasingly popular in cities across the country. To some, they are an innovative alternative to cars. To others, however, they represent a dangerous trend in transportation technology that threatens Americans with disabilities.
In 2019, disability advocates filed lawsuits in San Diego and Minneapolis over the cities’ electronic scooters. Both lawsuits allege that the cities have not done enough to manage the deluge of electric scooters on their streets, creating potentially dangerous situations for people with disabilities and violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The mass migration to online learning is leaving disabled students behind
If schools do stay in digital mode for a significant chunk of time — which trends indicate might happen — it will become further incumbent on administrations to comply with the ADA. The internet, after all, is a heavily visual and auditory medium, and not everyone can see or hear.
COVID-19 Response: U.S. Department Of Labor Issues FAQs Regarding The FLSA And FMLA During Public Health Emergencies
The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has issued frequently asked questions for coronavirus-related workplace issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). We discuss below some of the key points for employers to be mindful of in this difficult time. In large part, the guidance merely recaps the basic principles of which employers must be mindful at all times.
Note that the FMLA requirements may soon be supplemented by emergency legislation being considered by the Senate, particularly as to paid sick leave, which is not presently mandated by federal law.
EEOC Issues New Guidance For Employers On Compliance With The Americans With Disabilities Act And The Rehabilitation Act During The COVID-19 Pandemic
Yesterday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new guidance regarding the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on employers' obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act not to discriminate against and to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees. The guidance states that, while employers must continue to comply with the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act, those laws do not interfere with or prevent employers from following the guidelines and suggestions from the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) or state or local authorities.
The EEOC guidance also directs employers to its 2009 publication "Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans With Disabilities Act," a guidance document written during the H1N1 outbreak more than a decade ago. The Act includes a section answering frequently asked questions by employers, the principles of which the EEOC guidance has applied to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are the key takeaways for employers:
- Employers may ask employees who call in sick if they are experiencing symptoms consistent with the COVID-19 virus. Employers must maintain information about employee illness as a confidential medical record in compliance with the ADA.
- Employers may measure an employee's body temperature.
- Employers may require employees who are experiencing symptoms of the COVID-19 virus to leave the workplace.
- Employers may require employees who have been away from the workplace during a pandemic to provide appropriate fitness for duty documentation before returning to work. As a practical matter, however, it may be difficult for employees to obtain fitness for duty documentation given the extra demands on healthcare professionals' time during a pandemic.
- Employers may screen job applicants for symptoms of the COVID-19 virus, including by measuring an applicant's body temperature, after making a conditional job offer as long as the employer screens all applicants for the same type of job.
- Employers may delay the start date of a job applicant who has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus or has symptoms associated with the virus.
- An employer may withdraw a job offer when it needs an applicant to start immediately where the applicant has symptoms associated with the COVID-19 virus.