Public News Service
As thousands of Iowans will soon be hitting roads for the holidays, they may notice changes happening at a well known chain of regional gas stations to make them accessible to all.
HR.BLR.com
A Hawaii man whose employment was terminated following several angry outbursts sued his employer, claiming the outbursts occurred because of a disability. He also claimed that his employer failed to reasonably accommodate his disability by allowing him to bring a shih tzu named Sugar Bear to work as a means of helping control his emotions and anger issues. A Hawaii judge recently ruled the employee may have a case.
EmployerLINC
At this point, employers have become all too familiar with the new, aggressive enforcement agenda of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The agency’s systemic initiative to root out alleged discriminatory employment practices has been well-publicized, and there are no signs that those efforts will be eased anytime soon. But the increase in such investigations has resulted in many employers being exposed to what was, until recently, a fairly uncommon element of the Title VII system – the much broader powers of the EEOC to investigate alleged “patterns and practices” of employment discrimination. A recent case from Florida is instructive on just how broad those investigative powers can be.
The National Law Review
In Debra Kaufman v. Petersen Health Care VII, LLC, 769 F.3d958 (7th Cir. 2014), the Seventh Circuit recently reaffirmed an employer's duty to provide reasonable accommodations to an employee with a disability. The Americans with Disabilities' Act forbids employers from discriminating against "an individual who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires." 42 U.S.C. § 12111 (8). The Seventh Circuit held that Petersen Health Care's requirement that the plaintiff be 100 percent healed before returning to work violated the ADA's requirement that an employer make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities. In focusing on this requirement, the court held that an employer must engage in an interactive process to determine an appropriate accommodation when requested by an employee.
EEOC disability investigation of Royal Caribbean ruled too broad
Business Insurance
A recent appeals court ruling chastising the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for issuing an overly broad and burdensome subpoena in a discrimination case is expected to help other employers combat similar orders.