I am back to my Monday postings. In my latest article, just published by the ABA GPSolo magazine, I discussed the legal parameters that an employer is faced with when it comes to dealing with an employee addicted to the Internet. This week’s case continues that line of thought, albeit with respect to alcohol
safe harbor
Addiction and the ADA: The “Current User,” Safe Harbor
By William Goren on
When it comes to drugs and alcohol, those addicted to drugs and alcohol are not treated the same way as persons with other disabilities. For example, an employer has the right to evaluate an alcoholic employee or an employee addicted to drugs as if the disability didn’t exist. 42 U.S.C. § 12114(c)(4); EEOC interpretive guidance…
Goodbye Safe Harbor Thanks to the Affordable Care Act?
By William Goren on
I
Introduction
My experience with law review articles is that for the most part they are very difficult to read, rarely practical, and rarely on the cutting edge of things with respect to how practitioners are concerned. There are exceptions. For example, in my book, in the ADA and Sports chapter, I spent quite…
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…
Federal laws/regulations allowing for discrimination can trump the ADA (even if adopted at the state level)
By William Goren on
The United States Supreme Court and the regulations implementing title I of the ADA allow for a complete defense to discrimination against persons with disabilities when the discrimination is necessary in order to comply with other federal law or regulations. Albertsons v. Kirkingburg 527 U.S. 555, 570, 570 n.16; see also id. at 578 (J.…
Before doing a postemployment medical exam, do you need reasonable suspicion, probable cause, good cause, none of the above?
By William Goren on
Posted in Federal Cases, Title I
The ADA requires that an entity subject to the act cannot require a medical examination and cannot make inquiries of an employee as to whether that employee is an individual with a disability or as to the nature of the severity of the employee’s disability unless that examination or inquiry is job-related and consistent with…