This week’s blog entry is a twofer. In the first case, we will discuss whether magic words are necessary for getting a reasonable accommodation. In the second case, we will discuss what I believe is the long-term folly of not going the extra mile when it comes to making a place of public accommodation accessible.
reasonable accommodations
Police liability for not knowing or ignoring the ADA
By William Goren on
In a comment to a previous blog entry, I discussed the case of Gipson v. Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits. In that case, the Northern District of Georgia said that considering what police have to do, it wasn’t right to impose ADA liability on the police since the police are not lawyers and have…
Good faith interactive process
By William Goren on
I
What is a good faith interactive process?
The ADA requires an interactive process whenever a person with a disability gives the employer, governmental entity, or business notice (broadly defined), that they are in need of reasonable accommodations/modifications as a result of a disability. What would a good faith interactive process look like in the…
Is pregnancy a disability? The true false version
By William Goren on
Three of my colleagues, Robin Shea, Eric Meyer, and Jon Hyman have written excellent blog entries on the latest EEOC guidance dealing with pregnancy discrimination. There is also a section of that guidance dealing with how pregnancy may also constitute disability discrimination under certain circumstances. I thought it would be informative if I…
Be careful about taking accommodations that are working away
By William Goren on
I know I generally blog on Mondays, but this has been a strange week between client matters and an unusual family schedule.
Also, it isn’t unusual for those who blog to wind up blogging on things that some other blogger has covered. I don’t mind doing that so long as we have different perspectives that…
DOJ regulations implementing title II and title III of the ADA amendments act: where’s the impact?
By William Goren on
Last week, the Department of Justice proposed rules implementing title II and title III of the ADA in light of the amendments to the ADA. I’m not going to go into depth here, but I thought I’d go over some particularly significant items in the proposed rule. Of course, what follows is not comprehensive and…
Does a resignation end an employer’s duty to accommodate an employee?
By William Goren on
Posted in Federal Cases, Title I
An employee learns that she has cancer. Shaken up by the diagnosis she returns to work the same day and tells the on-site coordinator of her diagnosis. The on-site supervisor then communicates same to the company’s administration and on-site operations manager for the regional area explaining that the employee has been sent home because of…
Otherwise qualified and reasonable accommodation two different concepts?
By William Goren on
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…
Using the rehabilitation act to get around sovereign immunity in Title II cases
By William Goren on
Under Tennessee v. Lane, the equal protection class persons with disabilities fall into is going to depend upon the facts and circumstances of the individual case. That equal protection class is also going to dictate how likely a state is going to be able to defend on the grounds of sovereign immunity. The question…
Legal narcotics and the ADA
By William Goren on
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…