The following is a brief overview of some key issues that may dominate the legal landscape in 2020 and beyond. LGBT Rights Due to its significant impact on the civil rights of more than eight million LGBT individuals in this…

Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of a disability and requires employers engage in an interactive process and provide reasonable accommodations. A failure to do so may result in liability. The…

The association provision of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employment discrimination against an employee or applicant because of a known relationship or association with a person with a known disability. This means that an employer is prohibited from…

Richard W. Bunch, PhD, PT, CBES It always amazes me when reviewing legal cases about allegations of employee discrimination how employers too often create their own problems that are quite costly. In the California case, Abarca v. Citizens of Humanity,…

The American workforce is becoming increasingly subject to anxiety and depression disorders. Employers must find ways to retain and motivate employees with such diagnoses in order to maintain a competitive advantage and to avoid legal liability. Nobody knows precisely how…

An informal discussion letter released by the EEOC sketches out the lawful boundaries under GINA and the ADA with regard to medical history inquires and annual fitness-for-duty examinations. Although the letter responds to an inquiry about medical history information sought…

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the purpose of the interactive accommodation review (IAR) process is to “identify the precise limitations resulting from the disability and potential reasonable accommodations that could overcome those limitations.” In return to work cases…

What happens when, at the end of a good faith interactive dialogue and despite the parties’ best efforts, there is apparently no reasonable accommodation that will enable the employee to perform the essential functions of their job? Can the employer…

A former employee with WellStar Health System failed to demonstrate to a federal appeals court that she was terminated from her job based on a disability instead of her admission that she reported to work impaired by prescription drugs. The…

Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals clarifies that employers have discretion to provide a reasonable accommodation as identified through the interactive accommodation review (IAR) process. Once an employee abandons the IAR process, the employer has no duty to accommodate. Under the…