Reasonable Accommodations

Consider the Circumstances: What to Expecting When You’re Expecting Employees to Return to Work and They RefuseAs states begin to ease COVID-19 restrictions and individuals start to determine their own levels of acceptable risk, employers face yet another set of issues related to getting employees back to work. After many of you quickly pivoted to remote work to comply with stay-at-home orders, you are now reverse-engineering solutions to a new problem:

Crosstown Traffic! Facts Surrounding Employee’s ADA/FMLA Request to Avoid Bad Traffic Not Enough Not all requests for accommodation or FMLA leave will fit into neat boxes like “pregnancy” or “knee surgery.” Because the ADA definition of a disability includes any impairment that affects a major life function, employers are starting to see some more creative requests around the margins. In Trautman v. Time Warner Cable Texas, LLC,

I Need My Squirrel at My Desk:  A Reminder about Service Animals vs. Emotional Support AnimalsMany people chuckled when they read the news story about the woman who attempted to bring her “emotional support squirrel” on a Frontier Airlines Flight early in October. However, it is hard not to notice the proliferation of “emotional support animals” — usually dogs or cats, but sometimes turkeys or even spiders. As an employer,

3 Steps to Figuring Out ADA Reasonable Accommodations for Mental IllnessWhat do you do when an employee discloses that he or she is stressed out and needs a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but the requested accommodation strikes you as unreasonable? If you are reading this and thinking “that won’t happen to me—all of my employees are well-adjusted,” think again. The experts

“I Need to Work from Home” -- Telecommuting May Be Your ADA Reasonable Accommodation AlternativeDoes the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require you to allow telecommuting? If the employee’s job, like most jobs, involves attendance and teamwork as essential functions, the answer is likely no. However, more and more employers are allowing telecommuting, and most employees welcome the opportunity to telecommute.

If an otherwise qualified employee has a disability,

“Don’t Tase Me, Boss!” Eleventh Circuit Reinstates Claims of Police Officer Who Refused Taser TrainingIf an employee gets a doctor’s note saying she can’t participate in training because of a physical limitation, does that make her disabled? It might if you treat her like she is—at least that is what the Eleventh Circuit ruled last month in Lewis v. Union City, Georgia when it reversed summary judgment in favor

Changing of the Leaves: EEOC Again Pushes for Additional Leave as ADA AccommodationWe have said it before — the EEOC believes that leave is a reasonable accommodation and automatic termination when FMLA leave runs out violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Even though at least one federal court has made clear it disagrees, the EEOC continues to press the point and has recently filed a lawsuit

DOH! Nuclear Safety Regs Trump ADA Accommodation Request (Thankfully)In a battle between a mentally ill employee seeking accommodation for his job at a nuclear plant and federal nuclear safety codes—-which wins out? The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ended up going with safety codes.

Looking Out for an Erratic Employee

Mr. Daryle McNelis was an armed security guard at Pennsylvania Power and Light’s

You Might Feel a Small Stick: EEOC Sues on Failure to Accommodate PhlebotomistIf an employer provides a temporary reassignment to accommodate an employee’s disability/pregnancy restrictions, does it have to return her to that assignment after her maternity leave? The EEOC seems to think so. In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Dependable Health Services, the EEOC alleged that Dependable Health Services (DHS) discriminated against Sheena Berry, who