Plasma Biological Services To Pay $60,000 To Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Charge
According to EEOC's suit, Plasma Biological Services placed an employee on a deferred donor list after an initial screening for a plasma donation showed a viral marker. After the employee's supervisor learned of his placement on the deferred donor list, the supervisor immediately terminated him. Subsequent tests showed the employee was actually negative for such a viral marker.
Firing an employee because of a perceived disability, or for having a record of disability, violates Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Plasma Biological Services, LLC and Interstate Blood Bank, Inc. d/b/a Plasma Biological Services, Civil Action No. 2:15-cv-02419) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Western Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
Besides the $60,000 in monetary relief, the three-year consent decree settling the lawsuit:
- enjoins Plasma, its supervisors and managers from failing to hire any applicant or discharging any employee because he or she tests positive for a viral marker;
- requires Plasma to modify its Standard Operating Policy Manual to state that Plasma does not maintain a policy of refusing to hire applicants or a policy of discharging any employee because he or she tests positive for a viral marker;
- requires Plasma to maintain separate medical and personnel files;
- requires Plasma to provide annual disability training for its managers, supervisors, and the president at all of its facilities during the decree's three-year term; and
- requires notice posting, reporting and monitoring.
Deaf Woman To Get $750000 For Hellish Ordeal With NYPD
Huffington Post
A New York City woman, who is deaf and says NYPD officers wrongfully arrested her and then ignored her pleas for an American Sign Language interpreter, has settled her lawsuit against the city for $750,000, a sum her lawyers say is the largest ever deaf discrimination settlement for a single person.
Legislation to Curb Abusive ADA Lawsuits Introduced
TexasGOPVote
Along with Congressmen David Jolly and Doug Collins, Wednesday I introduced H.R. 3765, The ADA Education and Reform Act of 2015. This legislation will curb frivolous lawsuits filed by cash-hungry attorneys and plaintiffs that abuse the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).
The ADA is a vital law that is meant to make American businesses more accessible to the disabled. But the integrity of this important law is being threatened. The vast majority of small businesses in America strive to serve their customers to the best of their ability – relying on the ADA as another tool to help ensure that costumers with disabilities can enjoy the services that they provide.
Most of these business owners believe that they are in compliance with the ADA and have even passed local and state inspections. However, despite their best attempts, certain attorneys and their pool of serial plaintiffs troll for minor, easily correctable ADA infractions so they can file a lawsuit and make some cash. There is a now whole industry made up of people who prey on small business owners and file unnecessary abusive lawsuits that abuse both the ADA and the business owners. This bill will change that by requiring that the business owners have time to fix what is allegedly broken. If they fail to correct the infractions the plaintiff retains all of their rights to pursue legal action. This legislation restores the purpose of the ADA: to provide access and accommodation to disabled Americans, not to fatten the wallets of attorneys
Supporting Groups
American Hotel and Lodging Association, Asian American Hotel and Lodging Association, American Resort Development Association , Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International, International Council of Shopping Centers, International Franchise Association, National Apartment Association, National Association of Theater Owners , National Council of Chain Restaurants , National Federation of Independent Businesses, National Multifamily Housing Council, National Restaurant Association , Retail Industry Leaders Association
Lawsuit Claims Jungle Island Charges More to Accommodate Disabled
Daily Business Review
A Miami nonprofit is suing Jungle Island for charging extra for a ramp so that award recipients with disabilities could reach the stage at an event.
The fair-housing organization Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence claims the zoological park and its caterer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by charging $2,261 for the ramp. The city of Miami, which owns Watson Island and leases to Jungle Island, is also a defendant in the federal lawsuit filed Oct. 16.
Let the pros in HR handle that! Bosses shouldn't meddle in FMLA, ADA issues
Business Management Daily
Some managers think they can handle employees with disabilities on their own. That’s never a good idea.
Someone in HR should oversee every aspect of disability accommodations. Leave management out of it—other than requiring every manager and supervisor to report immediately potential disabilities to HR. Otherwise, things can go badly wrong, as they did in one recent case.
Florida: What do you owe an employee who becomes disabled?
HR.BLR.com
Recently, a Florida judge entered an order that clarifies Florida employers' duty to accommodate employees who become unable to perform significant job duties. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued a Tampa hospital over its treatment of a psychiatric nurse who developed mobility issues. After a 3-day trial, the jury returned what some would call a split decision. Here's what happened.
Former student sues Ithaca College for $10 million
WBNG-TV
A former Ithaca College student is suing the institution for $10 million, claiming it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
According to the lawsuit filed with a U.S. District Court in New Jersey, Carter acquired a disabling disease between Aug. 2012 and May 2014. The medical condition required that she be given special accommodations.
The lawsuit claims the college agreed to those special accommodations, but despite that agreement, the college did not provide them.
Carter is demanding $10 million and other relief deemed proper by the court for mental anguish and physical pain caused by the college’s intentionally denying reasonable accommodations owed to her under federal law.
Do I really need to update that job description? Failing to do so may complicate ADA litigation
Lexology
A job description (or job posting) provides applicants with a general sense as to the nature of the position for which they are applying. For employees, a job description sets expectations and can be a useful benchmark against which a manager evaluates employee performance.
In the context of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a job description can be a key tool to support an employer’s position with respect to the essential functions of a position and the extent to which a requested accommodation may reasonably be provided. Unfortunately, a job description can also be a glaring statement of inconsistency.
Lawsuit Seeks Accommodation for Deaf Football Players
Athletic Business (blog)
When Dov Nathanson, a deaf fourth-grader, plays football, the vibrations from a drum on the sidelines help him feel the "huts" barked by the quarterback. A sign-language interpreter allows him to follow along in team huddles.
When Dov's parents felt that the Spring Lake Park Panther Youth Football Association was balking at the cost and perceived inconvenience of such accommodations, they sued it under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Minnesota Human Rights Act. A federal judge recently refused to throw out the lawsuit.
Illustrating the Importance of Training Your Employees on the ADA
Workforce Management (blog)
If your business is a place of public accommodation, you should be training your employees on their obligations to accommodate disabled people.
Stranded by airline, a disabled man crawled off his flight. But the humiliation was far from over
messenger-inquirer
He had just flown five hours from San Francisco to his hometown of Washington without a bathroom break because his cerebral palsy prevented him from using the United Airlines toilets. Then he had waited the usual 15 minutes for the plane to empty before someone could help him exit in a special narrowly built wheelchair. But the wheelchair never came.
Lemoore business hit with ADA lawsuit
Hanford Sentinel
As the recent wave of Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuits winds down in Hanford, the focus may be shifting to Lemoore.
Bakery employee apologizes after telling blind woman with guide dog to leave the business
fox8.com
A Baldwin Wallace College student who is blind said she was told to leave popular Dick’s Bakery in Berea because of her guide dog, and the incident has fueled angry comments on social media.
Sophomore Gabriella Drago, 19, keeps her guide dog Freesia by her side at all times, including during a stop for a donut with a friend at Dick’s Bakery Monday. She said bakery employee Carol Pearce, 74, told her the dog was not permitted inside, even after Gabriella explained that Freesia is a service dog, and it is illegal to ban the dog from the business.