The Briefing – Late Night, Early Dismissal: The Santos-Kimmel Copyright Case
(Podcast) The Briefing – Late Night, Early Dismissal: The Santos-Kimmel Copyright Case
Fifth Circuit Affirms District Court’s Striking of Class Allegations
Eighth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Putative Class Claims
Nota Bene Episode 98: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Mark on U.S. Antitrust Law for 2020 with Thomas Dillickrath and Bevin Newman
Class Action Suit Against Instagram for New Terms of Service Dismissed
When advising employers about the legal risks associated with a business reorganization, we generally advise that discrimination claims are less likely when a company closes an entire facility or department as compared to...more
SkyWest Airlines, Inc., was justified in discharging a deaf ramp agent because his inability to hear or effectively communicate posed a “direct threat” to the safety of himself and others, the U.S. District Court for the...more
Nearly a year ago, we reported that the United States Supreme Court was planning to hear a case—Acheson Hotels v. Laufer—on whether “tester” plaintiffs in ADA accessibility cases have standing to sue, including in the...more
In 2008, Congress amended the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to expand the definition of protected medical conditions under the statute. The amendments were in part a response to a series of cases where federal courts...more
On November 7. 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States declined to review a case by a Georgia fire chief alleging she was discharged for being transgender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the...more
On August 15, 2022, the New Jersey Appellate Division declined to reinstate a disability bias class action brought by a New Jersey Transit train operator who was required undergo a sleep apnea screening due to the...more
In early September 2021, a group of current and former employees of St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Kentucky filed suit challenging St. Elizabeth’s vaccine mandate for its employees. In the case of Beckerich v. St. Elizabeth...more
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers are required to consider reassignment to an existing vacant position as a last ditch form of reasonable accommodation for an employee unable to return to their previous...more
If disabled employees are no longer able to perform the essential functions of their job even with reasonable accommodation, under the Americans with Disabilities Act the employer must consider transferring the workers to an...more
Religious schools expressed relief when the United States Supreme Court expanded the application of the ministerial exception in July 2020 in the combined cases of Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrisey-Berru and St. James...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with protected disabilities. Another part of the ADA requires employers to refrain from discriminating against disabled...more
In order to claim discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act, employees must demonstrate that they could perform the essential functions of the job but were denied a reasonable accommodation. Some employers...more
Some of the most frequent questions we receive from employers involve managing the performance of employees with medical issues. While employers understand their nondiscrimination obligations under the Americans with...more
From time to time, we encounter requests from employees for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act that appear unrelated to the employee’s underlying medical condition. For example, an employee with a back...more
The Americans with Disabilities Act not only provides protections for disabled persons but also those “regarded as” having a disability, even if they are healthy. On September 12, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals (which...more
Employers, you see this movie all too often. You tolerate, and then ultimately discharge, a poor-performing employee who displays a bad attitude. Unfortunately, supervisors have not documented the employee’s prior instances...more
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers may only require employees to submit to medical exams or inquiries when there is a business necessity for determining the employee’s ability to perform the essential...more
Job-protected leave continues to be the most common accommodation requested by employees under the Americans with Disabilities Act. For employers, the question remains at what point does the amount of work missed end the...more
In addition to OSHA rules, many safety-sensitive businesses use ANSI or other standards organizations’ guidelines to develop their safety programs. Earlier this month, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of...more
In its 2012 Hosanna-Tabor decision, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a “ministerial exemption” to employment claims brought under Title VII and the ADA. The exception allows religious employers to make what otherwise would...more