BC, workplace accommodations, EEO/discrimination, etc
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EEOC Releases Fiscal Year 2018 Enforcement and Litigation Data
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released data on the numbers and types of complaints filed with the agency, as well as resolutions and outcomes achieved in fiscal year 2018. 24,605 complaints were filed alleging disability discrimination, and more than $136 million in benefits obtained for aggrieved individuals.
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Keeping your job
While this article pertains to rheumatoid arthritis, others of us may find some points relevant and helpful.
Why It's Difficult to Keep Your Job If You Have Rheumatoid Arthritis
Discussion of accommodations, disability (SSDI) and coping may be valuable.
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"Corizon Health / Corizon LLC to Pay $950,000 to Settle Nationwide EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit"
Corizon Health Inc. and Corizon LLC have agreed to pay $950,000 and provide other relief to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The Corizon companies provide health care in jails and corrections facilities across the country.
According to the EEOC, Corizon violated the ADA by refusing to accommodate employees with disabilities, subjecting employees to a hostile work environment due to their disabilities and/or need for accommodation, retaliating against some employees who engaged in protected activity, and terminating employees who had disabilities or needed accommodations.
In addition to the monetary relief for 23 individuals, the companies will also modify their policies and practices to ensure that employees with disabilities are afforded reasonable accommodations, provide annual training to all their employees, and hire a monitor to ensure compliance.
Elizabeth Cadle, district director of the EEOC's Phoenix District Office, said, "Employers should understand that policies which require an employee to be 100% or without any medical restrictions violate the ADA because they don't leave room for reasonable accommodations."
Reported at:
https://www.adainfo.org/e-bulletin/e-bulletin-may-28-2019 (under ADA News)
This was also an EEOC press release:
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2020 Democrats put spotlight on disabilities issues
BY ZACK BUDRYK - 05/23/19 - The Hill
Highlights:
"You can look at every major issue for the presidential candidates in 2020 and frame it as a disability issue: health care, education, employment, climate change, inequality, mass incarceration,"
"Some issues, like health care, housing, education and law enforcement, have very significant meaning for disabled people. And then there are quite specific policy issues that really are primarily 'disability issues' … like long-term care, accessibility and disability rights laws," Pulrang said.
Pulrang told The Hill that long-term care access is one of the foremost issues affecting disabled people.
"Helping people who need everyday assistance to stay in their own homes and communities and avoid unwanted 'placement' in nursing homes and 'residential facilities' is fundamental, both to the disability community and anyone dealing with the complications of aging," he said.
Another major issue Pulrang and Wong emphasized was a waiver system that allows employers to pay disabled people less than the minimum wage. Last year, Warren joined five other Senate Democrats in a letter to Labor Secretary Alex Acosta demanding information on the so-called 14(c) certificates, the waivers that allow employers to pay disabled people sub-minimum wage.
Harris, meanwhile, co-sponsored Sen. Bob Casey Jr.'s (D-Pa.) Transformation to Competitive Employment Act, which would ban the practice, in March.
Pulrang told The Hill banning this practice is one of the most "specific, emotionally resonant issues" affecting disabled people.
#CripTheVote
Full article here: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/445136-2020-dems-put-spotlight-on-disabilities-issues
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Many Are Replacing Disability Checks With Paychecks
May 22, 2019 - NPR - Scott Horsleyfor the first time in decades, the disability rolls are shrinking. More people with disabilities are returning to work and holding on to their jobs. With unemployment at a nearly 50-year low, companies are struggling to find workers. And that means people who had trouble finding a job in the past are suddenly in demand. That includes people with disabilities.
https://www.npr.org/2019/05/22/723757962/many-are-replacing-disability-checks-with-paychecks
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3 common FMLA scenarios that can create major headaches
At NELI's 2019 National Employment Law Conference, employment experts discussed factors that make FMLA administration a messy business.
https://www.hrdive.com/news/3-common-fmla-scenarios-that-can-create-major-headaches/555877/
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Virginia Court: Worker Fired After Cancer Diagnosis May Proceed with ADA Case
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia denied an employer's motion to dismiss the case of Donaldson v Trae-Fuels, LLC.
The employer argued for dismissal on the grounds that the plaintiff, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, did not have a disability as defined by the ADA. The court found the argument "unpersuasive."
Additionally, the court said the plaintiff "plausibly allege[d] that the defendants terminated his employment because of his cancer diagnosis." According to the complaint, before his diagnosis, the plaintiff never received any negative feedback or complaints about his work. However, upon learning of his diagnosis, his supervisors immediately began to question his ability to work, and made several negative comments about his illness. He was fired a couple of months after he began chemotherapy, despite having maintained a full work schedule while undergoing treatment.
http://www.vawd.uscourts.gov/opinions/conrad/donaldsontraefuelsopor.pdf
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DOT Warns American Airlines: Individuals with Severe Allergies Must be Allowed to Pre-Board
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) found American Airlines in violation of the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) for failing to allow the family of a girl with multiple food allergies the right to pre-board. The family wanted time to wipe down their seating area to reduce the chance of exposure to allergens. The airline has since changed its policy to allow pre-boarding for individuals with allergies to tree nuts and peanuts.
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Aging and Disability Study
Researchers are seeking adults with physical disabilities to participate in this study to learn more about the chronic health conditions people living with long-term disabilities experience as they age. Participants will be asked to complete three surveys over two years, online or by phone, and will be compensated for their time.
https://redcap.wustl.edu/redcap/srvrs/prod_v3_1_0_001/redcap/surveys/?s=XAK8R9KNYC
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Federal judge (now Supreme Court justice) ruled that ...a professor recovering from cancer had no recourse under federal disability rights laws when the university did not accommodate her request for leave under the ADA, despite her doctor advising that if she returned to teach in the midst of a flu epidemic she could die.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Judge-Gorsuch-failed-our-family-11001615.php
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Reasonable Accommodations Can Make Working Through Cancer Treatment Easier
Many patients with cancer continue to work through treatment.
being at work while facing cancer can be challenging.
Employees should know their rights
{The} cost of reasonable accommodations {is generally low}.
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Maryland: "MedStar Health / Medstar Ambulatory Services Agree to Conciliate EEOC Disability Bias Charge"
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), MedStar Health, Inc. and MedStar Ambulatory Services, Inc. announced the successful conciliation and settlement of an ADA charge filed with the agency.
The employers will implement revised attendance policies to ensure that employees with disabilities are reasonably accommodated, and provide training for all current supervisory and human resources employees.
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How to Disclose a Disability to Your Employer (and Whether You Should)
If you, like thousands of others, live with a visible or invisible disability, here's what you need to know if you want to tell your employer.
The Americans with Disabilities Act forbids employers from discriminating against applicants or employees on the basis of disability, but the gap between the letter and application of the law can swallow people whole....The A.D.A. protects people from losing their position because of disability, but it doesn't prevent microaggressions or water cooler chatter that can turn toxic.
{This NYT article appears to require sign in. NYT usually allows a limited number of views per month without subscription.}
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Labor Law: Mediating an EEOC charge could have benefits
When a company receives a charge of discrimination from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, this means that a current, former or prospective employee has filed a claim that your organization engaged in illegal discrimination.
An individual cannot pursue a federal discrimination charge without first having the case reviewed by the EEOC.
Upon receipt of the charge, the EEOC frequently will offer both parties the opportunity to mediate the claim to a mutual resolution.
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Cannabis Legalization and Employee Drug Testing: A Tricky Combination
with more states working to decriminalize or legalize marijuana use, routine workplace drug screening deserves a closer look. Last summer, Quest Diagnostics reported that the number of American workers and job applicants testing positive for drugs reached a 14-year high, with positive screens for marijuana at the top of the pile.
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/cannabis-legalization-and-employee-drug-36750/
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Businesses Named "Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion"
The record-breaking 180 businesses that participated in the 2019 Disability Equality Index (DEI) represent leaders across 28 business sectors, including financial services, technology, insurance and health care. The Disability Equality Index (DEI) is a unique, joint initiative of Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). It serves as the nation's most comprehensive annual benchmarking tool allowing America's leading corporations to self-report their disability policies and practices. This evolving index objectively scores each corporation on a scale from 0 to 100...
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/businesses-named-best-places-disability-120000943.html
https://disabilityin.org/what-we-do/disability-equality-index/
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Hospital fires doctor for having cancer
Dismissed George Washington resident with cancer sues school, alleging discrimination
The doctor fired for having cancer speaks up
A former resident at George Washington University Hospital sued the university {in 2016}, alleging that she was dismissed because she had cancer.
https://www.idealmedicalcare.org/hospital-fires-doctor-for-having-cancer/
{Note: material is from 2016, 2017. Wa Po allows a limited number of reads per month without subscription.}
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Curious: Have any MBC'ers secured federal employment as a Schedule A hire? Or otherwise have expereince with the program? Would you be willing to share words of wisdom?
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Employer's maximum leave policy violated ADA, EEOC says
- A Delaware company that provides services to correctional facilities and other state institutions will pay $550,000 to settle a disability bias lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced.
- Connections CSP allegedly fired employees with disabilities who needed additional unpaid leave beyond the 12 weeks provided by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). It also, according to EEOC, failed to provide other requested reasonable accommodations, such as reassignment to vacant positions, that would have allowed these workers to stay on the job. Instead, it allegedly placed them on FMLA leave and terminated them when their leaves expired.
- In addition to the monetary relief, which will be distributed to five former employees, the three-year consent decree resolving the suit requires Connections to implement a new reasonable accommodation policy; provide training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), its reasonable accommodation policy and other federal anti-discrimination laws; and post a notice regarding the settlement.
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100% healed policies continue to land employers in hot water
- An Alabama-based beverage distributor violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it required an employee with a heart condition to return to work with no medical restrictions and then fired him instead of providing a reasonable accommodation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has alleged in a lawsuit.
- The employee, who worked for Allstate Beverage Company as a warehouse administrator, suffered an embolism and was hospitalized. He offered to return to work with lifting restrictions and then asked for more time off when Allstate Beverage said he could return to work only if he had a full medical release. The employee then asked for additional unpaid leave as an accommodation so that he could return to work with no medical restrictions, but Allstate Beverage refused that request and then fired the man, the EEOC said.
- In a statement announcing the lawsuit, the EEOC regional attorneys said employers should be warned that denying requests for accommodations because they have already granted leave could subject them to liability under the ADA and that employers are obliged to provide individual consideration to reasonable requests for accommodations.
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Maryland Court Holds that Employers Must Reassign Employees as a Disability Accommodation
For a number of years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") has taken the position that, pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), an employer's obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation requires the employer to reassign disabled employees to an open position without requiring them to compete for the job. This position has been hotly contested and courts across the country have reached differing conclusions. Until recently, no court in Maryland had opined on this issue. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland agreed with the EEOC and held last week that the ADA does in fact require employers to provide noncompetitive reassignment as a reasonable accommodation. EEOC v. Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company d/b/a M&T Bank, No. CV ELH-16-3180, 2019 WL 4305365 (D. Md. Sept. 10, 2019).
https://www.milesstockbridge.com/labor-employment-...
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Humana Honored as a 2019 Leading Disability Employer
Award from the National Organization on Disability honors companies with exemplary disability hiring and employment practices
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190927005...
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"D.C. Sees Latest Test Case for Employees Seeking 'Reasonable Accommodation' for Off-Duty Medical Marijuana Use"
This article examines a new D.C. law providing employment protections to D.C. government employees who are lawfully enrolled in a medical marijuana program. It also highlights the latest in a recent trend of employees seeking to utilize state or local anti-discrimination laws as a means of requiring their employers to provide "reasonable accommodation" of their off-duty medical marijuana use, as it remains an "illegal drug" under the Controlled Substance Act (CSA).
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"Memory Difficulties in the Workplace"
The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) posted a blog on "Memory Difficulties in the Workplace." The blog explains that many types of disabilities can have an impact on memory and may require reasonable accommodations. JAN consultants can help brainstorm potential solutions for individualized workplace needs.
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National Conference of State Legislatures Magazine Feature on Employment and Disability
As part of its collaboration with the State Exchange on Employment & Disability (SEED), the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) recently published a feature in the September/October 2019 issue of State Legislatures Magazine on policies that help workers stay-at-work/return-to-work. The article, "Staying in the Game: With Record Low Unemployment, Lawmakers Want to Help Injured and Ill Workers Get Back on the Job Quickly," highlights examples of policies and programs states are implementing to help ill and injured workers return to the workforce, as well as federal efforts such as the RETAIN Demonstration Projects.
http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/...
{This article deals mostly with injured workers returning to work, but others may find aspects valuable.}
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"Federal Disability Agency Releases First in Series of Reports on Bioethics and Disability"
The National Council on Disability (NCD) is releasing a series of reports on bioethics and disability. The five reports were developed through a cooperative agreement with the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF). Each report examines the status and future of how a variety of key issue areas – including organ donation, assisted suicide laws, genetic testing, systems such as Quality Adjusted Life Years, and assumptions about medical futility – are developing due to technological and scientific advances, as well as legal changes and healthcare delivery.
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"People with Disability Face Barriers to Basic Health Care"
This article examines the ways in which a lack of accessible medical equipment – such as exam tables, scales and mammography machines – means that people with physical disability struggle to get adequate health care.
https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities...
{Our "abilities" may change as we navigate the cancer experience. This article discuses how physical disability may impact access to care.}
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Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor
The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) at the Department of Labor (DOL) has provided a new resource, the Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor, designed to help employers determine which federal disability nondiscrimination laws apply to their business or organization. The Advisor also helps recipients of federal financial assistance understand their responsibilities under these laws. The Advisor guides users through a series of questions to target the specific laws that may apply to their situation. Employees, job applicants, applicants for or participants in programs that receive federal financial assistance, and individuals receiving services from public entities, may also find this Advisor helpful to learn more about their rights under these federal disability nondiscrimination laws.
https://www.adainfo.org/e-bulletin/e-bulletin-october-29-2019
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"New Poll: Majority of Voters Have Disability Connections"
This report from RespectAbility and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner (GQR) provides the results of a study on voters and disability. Key findings show that the disability community represents half the country; the disability community is politically contested; and, this community's agenda has not been sufficiently addressed by candidates for public office.
https://www.respectability.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/RespectAbility-survey-memo-FQ-100119.pdf
{Cancer is a disability under the ADA. Thanks to the Mid-Atlantic ADA Center for these links.}
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Supreme Court to look again at whether teachers at religious schools are 'ministerial'
The Supreme Court will consider how much leeway religious organizations have in firing their employees in two cases from California filed by teachers who lost their jobs at Catholic schools.
One teacher alleged age discrimination, and another, now deceased and represented by her husband, said she was fired after informing the school that she had breast cancer.
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