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Employment Litigation Essential Functions Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Indefinite Remote Work Isn’t a Reasonable Accommodation When In-Office Presence Is Essential Job Function, Federal Court Rules

On October 17, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas entered summary judgment in favor of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, as representative of the Kansas City Board of Public...more

Fisher Phillips

Legally Blind Teaching Applicant Deemed not Qualified Under the ADA: 3 Lessons for Schools

Fisher Phillips on

A school district in Texas recently prevailed in a failure-to-hire lawsuit when the court ruled that a legally blind applicant for a teaching position could not demonstrate that she’d have been able to manage student...more

Tucker Arensberg, P.C.

Can an Employee Be Eligible for Medical Leave Even if FMLA and PTO Leave Isn’t Available?

Tucker Arensberg, P.C. on

When employers think of “medical leave,” most minds understandably jump to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or time off that employees may be entitled to under company-provided policies (sick leave, vacation, PTO, etc.)....more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Eleventh Circuit Continues Trend in Finding Teachers Must Be Able to Work in Person

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw a number of federal court decisions involving disability discrimination claims from teachers who requested full-time remote work as an accommodation for compromised immune systems or other...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Considering an ADA Accommodation Does Not Require Employers to Make It

When a disabled employee requests a workplace accommodation, the Americans with Disabilities Act instructs the employer to determine whether the requested accommodation (or an alternative) allows the employee to perform the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says ADA Plaintiff Must Show Ability to Perform Essential Job Functions

When reviewing requests for accommodation from sick or injured workers, employers often focus on whether the requested accommodation is reasonable or whether it imposes an undue hardship on the company. ...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Upholds Employer's Denial of Remote Work During Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic and afterwards, employers have faced a growing number of requests for remote work arrangements based on a medical disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to grant...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says ADA Does Not Require Employers to Reallocate Nonessential Work Functions

When facing requests from a qualified disabled worker, the Americans with Disabilities Act allows employers to choose an effective accommodation, even if it is not the one preferred by the employee. Earlier this week, the...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Tenth Circuit Highlights Limits on Employers Defining Essential Functions of a Position

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment award on an employee’s failure-to-accommodate claim. The Court’s decision focused on the employer’s improperly narrow delineation of the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Another Federal Court Finds In-Person Teaching Essential Function Under Americans With Disabilities Act

Last month, we reported a First Circuit Court of Appeals decision that rejected an Americans with Disabilities Act claim brought by a teacher who was denied an extended leave of absence for recovery from surgery. The court...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

In-Person Teaching Is Essential Job Function Under Americans With Disabilities Act

In last week’s EmployNews, we discussed a growing trend of employees basing requests for remote work on mental or physical disabilities, and therefore requesting accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. In...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Remote Work for School Principal Is Not Reasonable ADA Accommodation If Physical Presence Is Essential, Federal Court Rules

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia recently rejected a school principal’s argument that remote work was a reasonable accommodation for her asthma and restrictive lung disease that she claimed were...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Seventh Circuit Says Employers May Need to Accommodate Transportation Issues Under ADA

In EEOC v. Charter Communications, LLC, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held an employee with a disability may be entitled to an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation to get to work when attendance...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Fifth Circuit Weighs in for the First Time Since COVID-19 as to When Remote Work Can Be Reasonable Accommodation

Fifth Circuit precedent recognizes the “general consensus among courts” that regular, in-person work is an essential function of most jobs. Yet the continued viability of this premise has been in question, given the ability...more

Venable LLP

Responding to Mental Health Accommodation Requests

Venable LLP on

Many employers have experienced an increase in employee requests for accommodations in the past few years. A federal jury’s recent award in Lisa Menninger v. PPD Development L.P. reminds employers that accommodation requests,...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Eighth Circuit Says Employer Not Obligated to Allow Service Dog at Work

In recent years, the use of service dogs and other animals has expanded from assisting persons with visual impairments to others with chronic diseases or psychological disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

New Year, New Job Duties? Why It Might Be a Good Time to Update Job Descriptions

Your job descriptions may be more important than you think, and what better time to review and update them than the start of the new year? In this blog, we discuss why job descriptions are important and the things to consider...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Guidance on ADA Accommodations and Medical Restrictions’ ‘Plain Meaning’ From Federal Appeals Court

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

The federal appeals court in Chicago has provided helpful guidance on employers’ obligation to accommodate qualified individuals’ medical restrictions under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in a case involving a...more

Genova Burns LLC

You Snooze You Lose: NJ Appellate Division Affirms Dismissal of Sleep Apnea Disability Bias Class Action

Genova Burns LLC on

​​​​​​​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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

ADA Allows Employers To Discipline Employees For Behavior Caused By Medical Conditions

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers cannot discriminate against an otherwise qualified individual with a disability or fail to provide reasonable accommodations that allow that person to perform the...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Employer Not Required to Create Shared Job as ADA Accommodation

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

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fourth Circuit Says Transferring an Employee Is ADA Accommodation of Last Resort

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

Laner Muchin, Ltd.

Seventh Circuit Affirms that Multi-Month Leave of Absence Is Not Reasonable Accommodation Under ADA

Laner Muchin, Ltd. on

In a recent opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed that a multi-month leave of absence is not a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)....more

Miles & Stockbridge P.C.

Fourth Circuit Ruling Favors Employers in High Profile ADA Case

On November 18, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a decision that retailer Lowe’s Home Centers LLC (“Lowe’s”) did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it removed a...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

7th Circuit has Spoken: Two Pound Lifting Limit, and Other Restrictions Can be an Unreasonable Accommodation under the ADA

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Seyfarth Synopsis: Athleisure company is rightfully able to terminate the employment of individual with physical limitations, despite that individual’s ability to delegate such functions of her position. See Tonyan v....more

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