Just about everyone on the Internet and in the blogosphere is talking about the filing of Coach Sarkisian’s disability discrimination lawsuit against University of Southern California. All kinds of folks have blogged on it already. Normally, since all kinds of folks have blogged on it, many doing it quite well, I would refrain from commenting.
reasonable accommodation
Suing a state court system: Shooting down the Defenses
By William Goren on
This posting is later than my usual Monday. However, Monday was Memorial Day and then I had family in.
In a previous blog entry of mine, I discussed how suing a state court system can be done but that it is very complicated. This case discusses the myriad of defenses that arise in such…
Telecommuting as a reasonable accommodation: EEOC v. Ford Motor Company en banc Decision
By William Goren on
In a comment to this blog entry, I discussed the panel decision of the Sixth Circuit in EEOC v. Ford Motor Company where the panel held that telecommuting was a reasonable accommodation. Before proceeding further, I want to thank Jon Hyman for alerting me through his blog that the en banc decision came down…
Meaningful access does not mean total access
By William Goren on
Previously, I have blogged that with respect to title II, the critical question is whether a person has meaningful access to the services, programs, activities of the public entity. This week’s case, Medina v. City of Cape Coral (an unpublished decision), , 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168680 (M.D. Fla. December 5, 2014), stands for the…
How not to defend essential functions of the job
By William Goren on
In a previous blog entry, I discussed how a company could do an excellent job of defending litigation over what are essential functions of the job. This particular blog entry deals with the opposite scenario, where the company does not do a very good job at all of accomplishing that task. The case is…
Is a person with a disability entitled to an attorney in a civil matter as a reasonable accommodation under title II of the ADA or under state law?
By William Goren on
One of my more popular blog entries is the blog entry that discusses suing a state court system for disability discrimination. I also have a second blog entry following up on that blog entry.
This blog entry explores a related topic. Let’s say a person with a disability finds themselves in the court system…
Litigation strategy and how to make ADA matters worse
By William Goren on
One of my favorite songs of all time is “The Gambler” by Kenny Rogers. For those who don’t know, it is a song about poker, but it might as well be a metaphor about litigation. The chorus of the song goes, “you gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold ’em, know when…
Third-party administrators and the risk of being an employer
By William Goren on
It is not unusual for companies of all sizes to outsource their HR functions and/or their benefit administration, though outsourcing their benefits administration is probably more common. What happens if the third party administrator starts making employment decisions for the company whose benefits they are administering? In that situation, there is a risk that the…
The perils of relying on a physical exam subsequent to a conditional job offer
By William Goren on
The ADA allows a physical exam to be made after a conditional job offer. That is, it is perfectly permissible under the ADA to offer a person a job conditionally subsequent to taking a physical. If the employer denies employment after the physical exam (i.e. takes back the conditional job offer), the employer must do…
Is indefinite medical leave a reasonable accommodation under the ADA? ? State Law? Local municipal law?
By William Goren on
Posted in State Cases, Title I
In a prior blog entry, we discussed whether indefinite medical leave was a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. In that blog entry, we discussed a case from the 10th circuit, where they held that indefinite leave was not a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. But that isn’t the end of the matter. What about…