The Pines of Clarkston to Pay $42,500 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit
federal disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
According to the EEOC's suit, The Pines of Clarkston discharged the administrator at its newly opened assisted living facility after a medical examination revealed her epilepsy.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). After first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process, the EEOC sued The Pines of Clarkston (EEOC v. The Pines of Clarkston, Inc., Case No. 2:13-cv-14076) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Court of Michigan.
In addition to $42,500 in monetary relief, the four-year consent decree settling the suit provides for the institution of policies regarding disability discrimination and training on the ADA and enjoins The Pines of Clarkston from terminating an employee on the basis of disability in the future.
"Firing an employee because of fears about conditions such as epilepsy strikes at the heart of the ADA," said EEOC Trial Attorney Dale Price. "The Commission will vigorously defend the rights of such persons in the workplace."
Magnolia Health Sued by EEOC for Widespread Disability Discrimination
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced it filed a lawsuit against Magnolia Health Corporation and its affiliates alleging the systemic discrimination of a class of job applicants and employees due to their perceived or actual disabilities. The Visalia, Calif.-based company and its affiliates operate six health care and assisted living facilities throughout California's Central Valley.
ADA settlement with Linden-based Abe's of Maine
MyCentralJersey.com
The U.S. Attorney’s Office on Thursday reached an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) settlement with a Linden-based electronics store to ensure equal access for individuals with disabilities at its retail store, on the Internet and through telephone orders, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a news release.
Disabled store worker alleges ADA violations
The Pennsylvania Record
An art materials store worker is suing her employer, alleging disability discrimination in a series of incidents designed to discriminate against her.
Samantha DiLacqua of Philadelphia filed a lawsuit July 13 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Dick Blick Art Materials, alleging multiple counts of disability discrimination during her employment.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff was hired to work at Utrecht Art Supplies, 301 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, and became a full-time employee in 2009. The lawsuit states that following a serious automobile accident Feb. 20, 2011, caused by a drunk driver, DiLacqua sustained traumatic brain injury and cognitive disorder causing short-term memory loss and was hospitalized approximately four months.
Returning to the store on a volunteer basis in late January 2012, DiLacqua alleges, she resumed tasks such as customer assistance, stocking inventory and display, although she could no longer perform heavy physical work or cashier.
The lawsuit states when DiLacqua's neurologist issued a work release July 26, 2012, she returned to paid work, and when the Utrecht store was acquired by Dick Blick in April 2013, the plaintiff was rehired for the same position. DiLacqua says Dick Blick was aware of her disabilities.
According to the suit, on Jan. 29, 2014, the plaintiff was informed of a customer complaint based on an incident of which she had no memory. The plaintiff contends her employer refused to engage with her regarding her disability and instead demanded she provide medical documentation which it already possessed, in an attempt to harass and intimidate her.
Proposal removes disabilities as factors in organ transplant decisions
witf.org
The story of a Schuylkill County man has led to a proposal to reshape one piece of the organ transplant world in Pennsylvania.
Family With Disabled Infant Barred From Entering Restaurant
Eater
A couple says a restaurant in Delaware refused to let their disabled infant son enter the sit-down restaurant due to his stroller, breaking the law in the process. According to the News Journal, Matt Brown and Hannah Reese were on vacation earlier this week with their daughter and infant son Colton who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy. Colton has a specialized stroller that "carries medical equipment Colton needs to breathe, cough, and take food through a stomach pump." The family went to dine at Nicola Pizza in Rehoboth Beach but Brown says the hostess "denied them seating."
Rome: Disability Access Wasn't Built in a Day
Jewish Journal
There we were at the Vatican on a hot, sweaty Italian afternoon last week with our son, Danny, who has physical disabilities, and discovered that the only way for us to access Michelangelo’s famed Sistine Chapel was for Danny to use a wheelchair lift on the stairwell. Due to the tight space and the hordes of tourists, the Vatican guards had to halt all the foot traffic in order to activate the wheelchair lift. On seeing this ad hoc solution, I turned to the guard and said, “There’s a concept called universal design. If you pulled out the stairs and put in a ramp, everyone could access the Sistine Chapel at the same time.” He nodded his head, said it was a good idea, but that it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Is everyone disabled? Temporary disabilities and the ever-expanding definition of “disability"
Lexology
Following the amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)—the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA)—employers were told to refrain from asking employees whether they were disabled. The employer community took this instruction with a grain of salt, knowing that although the scope of employees covered under the amendments was significantly greater, there were certain conditions that did not constitute a disability. More recent case law may be proving that theory wrong and, instead, showing that “all” (or almost all!) employees are disabled.
Lanai screen repair causes disagreement
The News-Press
Q: We live in a large gated community of over a thousand homes. Our homeowners’ association’s swimming pool is inaccessible to people with severe disabilities. Is there any way to force our HOA to provide a lift for those that need help to enter the pool?
A: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), “Title II Entities” and “Title III Entities” have minimum requirements for making swimming pools, wading pools and pool spas accessible. The entities required to abide by these requirements are public entities, such as state and local governments (their departments, agencies or other instrumentalities) and places of public accommodations, commercial facilities and private entities that offer educational and occupational certification. Places of public accommodations include restaurants, hotels, theaters, convention centers, hospitals, parks, zoos, museums, amusement parks, health parks and such.
Under the ADA, these entities must make recreational programs and services, including swimming pool programs, accessible to people with disabilities. The ADA requirements provide large pools must have two accessible means of entry, with at least one being a pool lift or sloped entry. Small pools are required to have one accessible means of entry, either a pool lift or a sloped entry.
Condominium associations and homeowners’ associations are generally not considered “places of public accommodation” under the ADA. Common areas of a homeowners’ association and common elements of a condominium, such as the clubhouse and pool, are not covered by the ADA where use is restricted exclusively to residents and their guests, and not open to the public. Exceptions may apply where short term rentals are permitted.
Your HOA is likely not legally required to retrofit to make the swimming pool accessible, provided that it was constructed in accordance with the building codes which existed when the pool was constructed. In some cases, ADA standards are built into building codes and may also be necessary to follow in connection with major renovations.
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) permits disabled individuals, at their own expense, to make “reasonable modifications” to the common property of an association when such modifications are necessary to permit that individual to use the property for the purpose intended. For example, it is likely that the FHA would require an association to permit a disabled resident to add, at his or her own expense, a pool lift to a commonly used swimming pool, provided the nature and manner of the requested modification was reasonable.
Jimenez: County trying to make voting easier
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
In one case, the Nueces County Commissioners Court is grappling with the challenges of making polling places accessible to the disabled voter. At the federal courthouse, the Texas voter ID law, which was found to be unconstitutional in a ruling by Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, is now being returned to Ramos by the federal appeals court.