The Blog of William D. Goren, J.D. LL.M.
Person works for a company of over fifteen employees, develops a disability, and is terminated from her position because of that disability. She then files for SSDI. She then brings suit under the ADA for failure of the employer to reasonably accommodate her disability.
In these type of situations, the employer will invariably defend using…
In the employment context, in order to be protected under the ADA, you have to have a disability and you also have to be qualified (until the amendments act the term was otherwise qualified but the meaning remains the same). Whether a person is qualified under title I of the ADA, depends upon whether that…
In order to get damages under title I of the ADA, you have to show intentional discrimination. In order to get damages under title II of the ADA, you have to show deliberate indifference. But what does intentional discrimination mean with respect to a regarded as claim? Must there be discriminatory animus or can there…
I do not normally blog more than once a week. You would be surprised how time-consuming writing a blog entry really is. Also, I don’t like to have blog entries that cannibalize each other. Rather, I like to have a blog entry get a chance to stand on its own for a while. That gives…
Consider: Employee/volunteer/Intern… with a disability is sexually harassing his or her coworkers. The disability is such that the employee/volunteer is unlikely to stop. The hiring authority terminates the employee/volunteer and the employee/volunteer sues the hiring authority for disability discrimination. This sounds very much like what could’ve been the case with the former Mayor of San…
Title I of the ADA requires that before a plaintiff can go to court they must first exhaust administrative remedies first. That means receiving a right to sue letter from the EEOC and filing your claim with the EEOC or an equivalent state agency within the requisite time period. It also means giving the EEOC…
The ABA Journal is, again, seeking nominations for its list of the 100 best legal blawgs, the “Blawg 100.” The nomination process is simple. Go here and answer a few simple questions touting your favorite blawgs. In addition to this one, there are many good blogs out there. For example, the ones that I use…
The terms of a collective bargaining agreement can play a critical role in analyzing the rights of the parties. For example, in a previous blog, the terms of the collective bargaining agreement played a critical role in the court allowing for random drug testing of current employees. That said, when it comes to collective…
Today, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar. In that decision, the United States Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling with Justice Kennedy being the swing vote, held that mixed motive is dead with respect to retaliation claims under title VII of the Civil…
In a previous blog, we talked about marijuana and the ADA. What about narcotics that are prescribed by a physician subsequent to a surgery? Would it be a reasonable accommodation to allow the plaintiff to return to work while using narcotic medications? It’s a justiciable question given the facts it had before it says…