EEOC sues Rockville company, alleges disability bias
Daily Record
The Rockville office of a pharmaceutical services company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by firing an employee suffering from postpartum depression, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has alleged in a lawsuit.
AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp. had extended Meron Debru’s short-term disability leave due to her depression but failed to permit her to return to her job of providing customer assistance to patients and pharmacists, or to a vacant position for which she was also qualified, EEOC stated in its complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt.
The coming tide of website disability claims under ADA
Lexology
Steven Becker, a partner in the Vorys Washington, D.C. office, authored a column titled “The Coming Tide Of Website Disability Claims Under ADA” for the October 1, 2014 edition of Employment Law360. In the article, Becker says that additional federal enforcement efforts and the expansion of website marketing functions has allowed website Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) discrimination cases to be brought. The full text of the article is included below.
1. Corporate "Wellness Program" Hits EEOC Radar As Violative Of The ADA
Mondaq News Alerts
As insurance premiums rise, and more companies self-insure, “wellness programs” have emerged to merge the interests of employees in being well and employers in keeping them well and away from the medical establishment. A vast majority of large companies have, in fact, instituted wellness programs.
Margate Library to make front entrance ADA compliant
Shore News Today
Along with an aging population, the city’s Library Director James J. Cahill Jr. has noticed there are increasing numbers of young mothers attending story time with their little ones in strollers.
However, access to the library is a challenge for both young and old if they arrive at the main entrance on Atlantic Avenue, so a renovation is planned to make the library compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Suit: Disabled railroad employee called 'ungrateful' for accommodations before termination
The Pennsylvania Record
A former employee for a Bucks County specialty railroad company says that her employers discriminated against disabilities she gained after a car accident and terminated her job because of special accommodations she qualified for under the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a federal lawsuit filed at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
1. Numbers of disabled workers increase, despite discrimination
Santa Fe New Mexican.com
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This year’s theme is “Expect. Employ. Empower.” It is an opportune time for businesses to educate employees and the public about disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions of America’s workers with disabilities.
Vital Signs: Supported employment programs can help disabled workers and their employers
The Daily Progress
For most of us, having a job is a very important part of our life. There are the important things like food and shelter that having a job makes possible, along with many other benefits that we gain through work.
Employment First addresses the needs of individuals who have disabilities to find jobs. Currently, the unemployment rate in Virginia is 5.6 percent. For persons with disabilities who are actively seeking employment, the unemployment rate is 70 percent.
Small Business: Suffering from work burnout
USA TODAY
Q: I have owned three businesses the past 20 years. While I always have really enjoyed being an entrepreneur, I find lately that I am just burned out. But I don't want to go work for someone else, and yet I am too young to retire. --
JD Supra
As we discussed with higher ed professionals during our presentation, employers should keep the following best practices in mind about light duty:
1. Light Duty and the FMLA: When an employee seeks FMLA leave, an employer can offer a light duty assignment as an alternative (to keep the employee working), but the employee has the right to take FMLA leave instead. The right take FMLA leave is absolute — if the employee cannot perform the current job because of a serious health condition, the employee has the right to take leave. Conversely, if the employee elects a light duty job in lieu of FMLA leave, the time in this light duty position cannot count against the employee’s FMLA allotment. 29 C.F.R. 825.207(e)
2. Light Duty and the ADA (Part I): An employer is not required to create light duty work, but if it does, it can create this position on a temporary basis. (EEOC Guidance, question 29) After all, the aim of light duty work is to gradually transition an employee back into his/her position, or to allow the employee a modest amount of time to heal until they are ready to perform their job duties again.
But how long is “temporary”? Of course, there is no magic number here. That said, I don’t have any concerns with a policy that gives guidance as to the length of a light duty role but clearly leaves the door open to the ADA’s interactive process so that the employer meets its obligations under the law. Such a policy might state, for example: “Temporary work does not normally extend beyond “x” days. If the employee has not sufficiently recovered to return to the usual and customary position within this period, then we will review the employee’s restrictions and engage the employee in a discussion about how we might help them perform their job.”
3. Light Duty and the ADA (Part II): There is a bit of an ongoing debate between EEOC and the rest of the world over whether employers can limit light duty to those who have suffered on the job injuries. EEOC has taken the position (in EEOC v. Supervalu and in similar ADA cases) that an employer cannot restrict light duty in such a way because it has the effect of discriminating against individuals with disabilities. Many employers traditionally have offered light duty exclusively to workplace injuries (especially where there are longtime collective bargaining agreements in place), and I see no reason to change now, so long as employers keep in mind your obligations to otherwise provide reasonable accommodations under the ADA. Just beware of the risk that EEOC will take an adverse position to yours and you may be required to defend the practice.
4. Light Duty and Pregnancy: In its July 2014 guidance on pregnancy discrimination, the EEOC takes the position (for the first time) that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA) requires employers to offer temporary light duty assignments to pregnant employees with work restrictions if the employer provides the same accommodation to non-pregnant employees who have similar work restrictions. The EEOC’s guidance is groundbreaking, and its impact will affect the manner in which employers provide accommodations to their employees. Clearly, the impact of the Guidance is felt most by employers in its requirement that they now are required to provide reasonable accommodations (including light duty and leaves of absence) for all pregnant employees, regardless of whether they are defined as “disabled” under the the ADA.
Due to the EEOC’s continued scrutiny and enforcement focus on pregnancy discrimination, and the agency’s broad interpretation of employers’ obligations under federal law, employers are well-advised to review their light duty practices — as well as their accommodation policies — as soon as possible to minimize exposure to pregnancy discrimination claims.