The United States Supreme Court holds that in most cases, it would not be a reasonable Accommodation to trump the rules of a seniority system. However, there may be exceptions, such as when the employer previously made changes to the seniority system.
If an employee is disabled by a disease transmittable by food, and the risk can not be eliminated by a reasonable accommodation, the employee should not be working. For the EEOC guidance on this, visit www.eeoc.gov/facts/restaurant_guide.html.
A depressed employee did not have a protected disability since he obtained subsequent employment. His continued employment evidenced that the disability was short-lived and did not prevent him from working.
An employee at Goodyear suffered seizures in 1988 and 1989 that resulted in a job transfer. Since there had been no seizures since 1996, there is no evidence that epilepsy substantially limited the employee’s major life activities at the time of his discharge.
The New York State Department of Corrections requires a doctor’s “brief general diagnosis” after a four day absence. Since the employer could not prove that the policy falls under the ADA’s “business necessity” exception, the policy triggered an ADA violation. (Conroy v. New York State Dep’t of Corr. Servs. (2d Cir.))
In discovery of an age discrimination layoff case, plaintiff is entitled to spreadsheets which include metadata. Metadata describes how, when and by who data was collected, created, accessed and modified.
A refinery worker with epilepsy filed for social security and claimed an ADA violation. Such claims can co-exist because the ADA provides for accommodations while the Social Security Administration does not. The refinery worker wrote on his SSDI application that he could not perform his job”with or without reasonable accommodation” when he was fired. Case dismissed.
Joel Katz, Esq. is an in-house employment lawyer for Computer Associates. He has lectured extensively on leave of absence issues.
Joel will walk us through the FMLA/WC/ADA maze and try to shed some light on the area of disability leaves.
Mr. Lippman and Mr. Michelson are partners in the law firm of Lippman, Michelson & Associates, specializing in ADA, EEOC and OSHA ergonomic compliance law. Their offices are located in Texas, California, and Tennessee.
A trucking company will not use drivers taking prescriptions that could impair their ability to drive. The Second Circuit found no violation because the employer did not view the workers taking such medications as disabled.