http://www.elinfonet.com/fedindex/5 Disability discrimination articles covering the topics under the Americans With Disabilities ACT (ADA) Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:02:30 EST en-us http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=11773 Article: 11773 webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST A Virginia district court has held, once again, that a hospital does not have to accommodate a nurse whose disability causes lifting restrictions so extensive that, in effect, she cannot perform the essential functions of her position. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=11755 Article: 11755 webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in El Paso denied an employer's motion for summary judgment on the issue of whether a plaintiff was disabled under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act. (The TCHRA was amended effective Sept. 1, 2009, to reflect amendments Congress made to the ADA. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=11705 Article: 11705 webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST Employment and labor law attorney Molly Hughes Cherry co-authored an article for the Defense Counsel Journal, a publication of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC). http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=11686 Article: 11686 webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST In a case that adds to a split among federal appellate courts, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a company’s insistence on an employee being “100% healed” after a medical leave does not necessarily support the employee’s legal claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Powers v. USF Holland, Inc., 7th Cir., No. 10-2363, December 15, 2011. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=11652 Article: 11652 webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST In a signal that the courts do not regard the 2008 amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as a basis to declare every ailment or condition to be a "disability" under federal law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently held that a plaintiff who was diagnosed with migraine headaches was not "disabled" under the ADA. Allen v. Southcrest Hospital, No. 11-5016, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 25488 (10th Cir. Dec. 21, 2011). Employers should not get too excited, however, as the court did not declare that migraines can never be a disability. It did clarify, in a manner that likely will be helpful for employers faced with ADA litigation, what an employee must establish to claim the ADA's protections. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=11630 Article: 11630 webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST Phelps Dunbar has been advising our clients over the last year to expect an increase in EEOC charges and litigation following the passage of the Amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Since the EEOC's final regulation under the Act were published in March of last year we have seen a sharp increase in EEOC charges filed under the ADA. Many of those charges have now worked their way through the EEOC process and we are seeing an increase in litigation that the EEOC is pursuing on behalf of employees who allege that they have been denied a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=11600 Article: 11600 webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST Jon Hyman, at Ohio Employer's Law Blog who does a great job of keeping up with developments in the Buckeye state and beyond, has an interesting post about the differences of the definition of disability under the ADA and the Ohio state version. Because of that difference, it's hard not to agree with his conclusion, Disability discrimination law in Ohio is a mess. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=11556 Article: 11556 webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST A teacher who failed to maintain her teaching certificate due to her depression was not a “qualified individual with a disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act, unless she could show that the certification requirement was discriminatory, the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled in a 2-1 decision. Johnson v. Board of Trustees of Boundary County Sch. Dist. No. 101, No. 10-35233 (9th Cir. Dec. 8, 2011). As the employee did not claim the requirement was discriminatory, the Court affirmed summary judgment in favor of the employer. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=11547 Article: 11547 webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST The OFCCP recently proposed new regulations that would significantly expand federal contractors‘ obligations under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide equal employment opportunities for qualified workers with disabilities. If the proposed regulations take effect, federal contractors and subcontractors will be saddled with an enormous number of new administrative burdens and, more importantly, may become subject to increased risk of liability under the Americans With Disabilities Act. http://www.elinfonet.com/newscount.php?popID=11507 Article: 11507 webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 EST On December 9, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a lower court’s entry of judgment in favor of George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (GWU) on claims brought by Carolyn Singh, a former medical student, for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in Singh v. George Washington Univ. Sch. of Med. & Health Scis. This recent decision, the second D.C. Circuit decision in the Singh case, offers valuable guidance to higher education institutions with regard to accommodation of students with learning disabilities.