A disabled employee asks her employer for an accommodation. After engaging in the interactive process, it becomes clear that the accommodation requested is going to be challenging. At what point can the employer say “no” to an accommodation request because it creates an undue hardship?
If the accommodation is cost prohibitive, that can be enough
One issue that consistently trips up employers is the interplay of laws for an employee with work-related medical issues. This is sometimes referred to as the Bermuda Triangle of workers’ compensation, ADA/FEHA (disability), and FMLA/CFRA.
Quite often an employee is injured, a workers’ compensation claim is opened, and the employer somehow forgets the other two
Just over a month ago, I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar entitled: “2017 Update: Accommodating Employees With Disabilities.” You can download the slides from my presentation. There were over a hundred attendees (mostly HR professionals) and I wasn’t able to answer everyone’s questions. Since other readers of this blog may have similar
The claim du jour is website accessibility.
Plaintiffs are suing businesses in alarming numbers alleging that websites are not accessible to persons with disabilities. In this alert, Fox attorneys
On September 27, 2017, at noon, I will be presenting a webinar entitled “2017 Update: Accommodating Employees With Disabilities.” The program is intended for human resource professionals and anyone else who fields requests for accommodation for their employer. I will explain what constitutes a disability, the extent of employers’ duties to engage employees
I was recently invited to contribute a chapter on employment law to the 2017 Israel Desk International Legal Guide. As more and more Israeli companies bring their operations to the U.S., they learn firsthand the intricacies of our employment laws. The chapter outlines six trends that I suggested that they pay attention to. They include
A December 2016 publication from the EEOC titled “Depression, PTSD, & Other Mental Health Conditions in the Workplace: Your Legal Rights” doesn’t exactly break new ground. It does, however, highlight issues that arise repeatedly in disability discrimination cases and, therefore, bear repeating. Here are the key takeaways:
The year end is a time for reflection, and one theme in my practice this year has been the failure of managers (and some HR professionals) to fully understand the interactive process, and to inadvertently cause liability by imposing a 100% healed policy.
Here’s how it often works. An employee goes out for a
I recently participated in a panel discussion about ADA/FEHA reasonable accommodation and interactive process issues for the LA County Bar Association. I presented on a panel with a plaintiff’s attorney and a disability rights expert/mediator.
Despite our differing points of view, there were many
Reasonable accommodation issues are tough. Employees often want a lot of things that are not justified by a doctor’s note, and appropriately documenting the interactive process can be an uphill battle.
If you are in the LA area and have burning questions about how to reasonably accommodate employees under the ADA and California’s FEHA, then