Your Leave Is Up – Sorry but You’re Fired
Many employers have medical leave policies. Most of those policies allow leave for a maximum duration often three to six months or even up to a year. The FMLA, of course, guarantees job protection for 12 weeks. But what is an employer to do if an employee has used up their FMLA leave (or is otherwise not eligible for FMLA), and they reach the maximum medical leave under the employer’s policy?
Sometimes the important things that an employee may be required to do in a job almost never happen. Take for example a worker at a juvenile detention center who might one day have to physically restrain a violent youth who might be causing trouble at the facility. It doesn’t happen often, but it certainly could. Does the employer have to accommodate a worker who is physically unable to perform a rare job function? A recent court decision answers that question. (more…)
A recent federal court opinion highlights the need for employers to evaluate employee requests for reasonable accommodation on an individualized basis – even where, at first glance, an effective accommodation may not be readily apparent. The ADA is, after all, intended to overcome employment decisions based on stereotypes.
A Deaf Applicant Seeks a Lifeguard Job
A 27-year old man who was deaf since birth applied for a lifeguard job at a county wave pool. He had previously received his lifeguard certification following successful completion of the county’s lifeguard training program. He utilized an American Sign Language interpreter during his training to communicate verbal instructions, but the interpreter did not assist him in executing lifesaving tasks. The applicant was unable to speak verbally but communicated using sign language. (more…)
Is Shared Lifting a “Reasonable” Accommodation?
Employees who suffer from a bad back and have lifting restrictions always present a challenge to employers who attempt to accommodate those restrictions. It’s discrimination under the ADA if the employer fails to make a reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability. The challenge is to know what’s reasonable. The disabled employee has the initial burden of proposing an accommodation and showing that it is objectively reasonable. If the employee can show that, then the employer would either have to propose an effective accommodation or show that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship. But say an employee with a bad back and a 10-pound lifting restriction proposed “shared lifting” as an accommodation. Would that be reasonable? (more…)
The answer to that question now is YES, so long as that person is “qualified” for the job and the transfer isn’t an “undue hardship.”
A significant change of course on competition for vacant positions as an ADA accommodation
Reversing twelve years of decisions that allowed an employer to pick the best applicant for a vacancy over a disabled employee seeking reasonable accommodation, the Seventh Circuit changed course and sided with the EEOC in a decision handed down on September 7, 2012. We saw this reversal of course coming when we posted our Blog article on May 10, 2012 – “Heads Up – Mandatory Transfer to Vacant Position as ADA Accommodation – Maybe…“ Take a look at that article to see what the law used to be. (more…)
