Sen. Schumer bill would allow disabled adults to stay home
SILive.com
Sen. Charles Schumer has sponsored a bill hoping to keep families together and make life accommodating and comfortable for disabled adults.
Schumer (D-NY) plans to introduce the bill, Disability Integration Act, in the Senate this week, requiring health insurance companies to pay for services for disabled adults in their homes.
While insurance covers care for disabled people in institutions, keeping them at home, should they and their family desire it, should be their right, Schumer said.
Permanent lifting restrictions and the ADA
Lexology
Permanent lifting restrictions can be a headache for employers when navigating through the accommodation process under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In determining the reasonableness of accommodating these restrictions, employers should review the essential functions of the position, whether it has provided similar accommodations, and whether such an accommodation could be provided permanently. All of this can be time consuming and difficult and can result in litigation if done wrong. However, a recent decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals provides some encouragement to employers and outlines ways in which an employer can determine if the person is a qualified individual with a disability and therefore entitled to such accommodations.
No Bias Claims for HR Director Fired for Skipping Criminal Checks
Bloomberg BNA
A human resources director for a Texas community mental health center who was fired after officials discovered that he hadn't been performing annual criminal background checks on certain employees, including himself, can't proceed to trial on various discrimination and retaliation claims, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Jan. 5 (Miller v. Metrocare Servs., 2016 BL 1312, 5th Cir., No. 15-10086, 1/5/16).
The Wellness Program Awakens: District Court Rejects EEOC Challenge In Flambeau
Mondaq News Alerts
Wellness programs, already something of a force in the group health plan industry, received a shot in the arm at the end of 2015 when a federal district court in Wisconsin ruled that an employer may require compliance with a wellness program as a condition for participation in its group health plan, without violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).1
In the arduous struggle for effective wellness programs as part of a well-designed group health plan, the EEOC's recent challenges to such programs as violating the ADA and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) have been particularly daunting.2 This became particularly so in 2014 when the EEOC filed three lawsuits challenging the legality of such programs.
Mondaq News Alerts
A federal judge in Wisconsin just issued a key ruling upholding an employer's wellness program despite a challenge from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The decision, published on December 31, 2015, is a definite win for those employers across the country that have established or want to establish such programs (EEOC v. Flambeau, Inc., Western District of Wisconsin.)
- This Could Be A Sign Of Very Good Things To Come
- Employer Plans Must Still Comply With Certain Rules To Benefit From Safe Harbor
- Stay Tuned For Final EEOC Regulations
Seventh Circuit Slams The “Brakes” On The EEOC's Appeal Of AutoZone ADA Defeat
Lexology
As we have previously noted, the EEOC continues to push the envelope on many fronts, including new theories/arguments in cases brought under Americans With Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq. (“ADA”), such as its recent attack on wellness plans, discussed here.
Most recently, in EEOC v. Autozone, Inc., No. 15-1753 (7th Cir. Jan. 4, 2016), the Seventh Circuit affirmed the denial of the EEOC’s request for a new trial in a case brought under the ADA where after a five day trial the jury returned a full verdict for the employer. The decision is an interesting read for corporate counsel focused on EEOC litigation and ADA compliance.
Fighting for Accessible Websites Under the ADA: Daniel Goldstein, Brown Goldstein Levy, Baltimore
Bloomberg BNA
The U.S. Department of Justice has yet to issue regulations on how e-commerce operators and governments can meet their website accessibility obligations under the Americans With Disabilities Act. In the meantime, many of the country's top retailers are being hit with lawsuits for allegedly failing to make their websites accessible to the legally blind.
Bloomberg BNA's Alexis Kramer posed questions to Daniel Goldstein, attorney for the National Federation of the Blind and a partner at Brown Goldstein Levy in Baltimore on barriers to website accessibility and how companies can ensure their websites are—and remain—accessible to sight-impaired users.
Amputee sues West Jefferson Medical Center, Rite Aid over alleged ADA violations
The Louisiana Record
A disabled Jefferson Parish man is suing West Jefferson Medical Center and Rite Aid, claiming the shopping center where the two stores are located has architectural features that restrict access to people with disabilities.
Lawrence Fultz filed a lawsuit Jan. 1 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against K&B Louisiana Corp., doing business as Rite Aid Pharmacy, and Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 1, doing business as West Jefferson Medical Center, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
3 Misconceptions About Emotional Support Animals
HealthLeaders Media
Employee requests to bring emotional support animals to work should not be automatically dismissed.
As if the hospital didn't feel enough like a zoo already, the rising use of emotional support animal (ESA) is forcing some HR departments to re-examine their guidelines on animals.
Unlike service animals, which are defined as animals trained to perform specific tasks for their disabled owners, ESAs receive no standardized training and have just one job: to be constant companions. People who use ESAs typically suffer from a variety of emotional or psychological conditions such as PTSD, depression, or aging-related cognitive decline, and say the consistent presence of the animal is necessary to their emotional well-being.
Ruling in EEOC Wellness Plan Case Could Be Harbinger
Bloomberg BNA
A Dec. 30 decision by a federal district court in Wisconsin rejecting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Americans with Disabilities Act challenge to a plastic manufacturer's wellness program testing requirements could presage how other judges will view the ADA's effects on such programs, an attorney representing the employer said Jan. 4 (EEOC v. Flambeau, Inc., 2015 BL 436342, W.D. Wis., No. 14-638, 12/30/15).
In granting summary judgment to Flambeau Inc., Judge Barbara B. Crabb ruled an ADA “safe harbor” provision for the terms of a bona fide benefits plan shielded the company from liability under the ADA for requiring its workers to complete a health risk assessment and undergo “biometric screening” to participate in Flambeau's self-insured health benefits plan.
Acknowledging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has yet to consider the issue, Crabb said the safe harbor provision, codified at 42 U.S.C. § 12201(c)(2), can protect employers from liability even if the medical exams and inquiries are covered by a separate ADA provision that generally bars such tests absent a showing of “business necessity” (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 12112 4(d)(4)(a)).
Lawsuit: disabled man and service dog hassled at Levi's Stadium
SFGate
A disabled man has filed a federal lawsuit against the San Francisco 49ers charging security guards and police officers kicked him out of a game last year at Levi’s Stadium and caused him to have a seizure after hassling him over his service dog, according to court documents.
James Hilburn accused the team of violating the Americans With Disabilities Act by denying him and his dog equal access as provided in the California Civil Code. The lawsuit also accuses the team of false imprisonment after Hilburn’s lawyer said he was unlawfully detained.
The lawsuit stems from an altercation at the Nov. 29 game against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Hilburn, who suffers from from myoclonic dystonia, which causes seizures, arrived at the game with his service dog and was let in with no trouble after showing the animal’s documentation to a ticket taker, according to court documents.