Category: Disability & Leave

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) contains an “escalator principle” which requires that employers place service members returning to work into the position the service member would have had but for his or her service–the “escalator position.”  In other words, if an employee would have been a supervisor had he not been called to active duty, USERRA requires that the employee be placed into that...

A federal district court in Michigan has granted summary judgment to an employer that denied an employee’s request to work at home because of her irritable bowel syndrome. EEOC v. Ford Motor Co., 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 128200 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 10, 2012). This case was brought under the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAAA), which significantly expanded the scope of protections for disabled. Even so, the decision shows that the law still...

A federal appeals court in Donnelly v. Greenburgh Central School District No. 7, No. 11-2448 (2d Cir., August 10, 2012), is permitting a teacher to proceed with his FMLA retaliation claim because the school district referred, in part, to his FMLA absences to lower his overall evaluation.  The lower evaluation was then used to deny the teacher tenure. It is important to remember that courts treat FMLA absences as “off-base” for any adverse...

The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) generally prohibits employers from asking disability-related questions to employees or applicants or requiring them to submit to a medical examination, unless the examination or questions are “job-related and consistent with business necessity.”  42 U.S.C. § 12112(d)(4)(A).  The statute’s limits on disability-related inquiries can create difficulties for employers wishing to implement a wellness...