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What’s That Smell? ADA Requires Fragrance Accommodation

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
08/02/2012
Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination
An Ohio county government employee had asthma and a severe chemical sensitivity to certain perfumes and fragrances.  In 2008, she began to experience problems breathing at work when working near co-workers wearing Japanese Cherry Blossom perfume.  She asked her employer to ask the co-workers to stop wearing fragrances.  The county did not and the employee’s symptoms and reactions worsened.  In February 2010, she actually had to seek emergency...
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Title VII is Not Exclusive Remedy for Discrimination Claims by Public Employees

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/27/2012
Employment Discrimination, Public Sector Employment Law, Sexual Harassment
By Eric Paltell  Unlike private sector employees, persons employed by state and local governments have workplace rights conferred upon them by the United States Constitution. A recent court decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that these Constitutional rights allow public sector employees to pursue discrimination claims even if they have not filed claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Henley...
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Court Finds No Accommodation Possible for Deaf Employee, So Employer Wins

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
07/17/2012
Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination
By Darrell R. VanDeusen Jessica Chrysler is a congenitally and profoundly deaf individual who communicates with hearing individuals by writing notes, gesturing, pointing, and miming. She can also type, text message, and use body language. Chrysler was hired to take pictures at a photography store, usually of young children. She also was required to sell photo packages. When working with other employees who could hear, Chrysler could perform just...
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“Cat’s Paw” Theory Applied in Title VII Case

Darrell VanDeusen
Darrell VanDeusen
07/16/2012
Employment Discrimination
By Darrell R. VanDeusen Last year, in Staub v. Proctor Hospital, 131 S. Ct. 1186 (2011), the Supreme Court held that the “cat’s paw” theory of liability could be used in a USERRA case. While the statutory language is different, most commentators expected that it would not be long until the theory was adopted for use under Title VII and other anti-discrimination laws. They were right. In Chattman v. Toho Tenax Am. Inc., 2012 U.S. App....
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I Won’t Take That Sitting Down

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/06/2012
Disability & Leave, Employment Discrimination
The EEOC decided to file suit against a Rite Aid store who would not permit one of its cashiers with bad knees to sit for half of her shift. The store ultimately fired the cashier for being unable to perform the essential functions of her position. The EEOC and the cashier had suggested that the cashier be permitted to sit for 30 minutes of every hour that she worked. The trial court disagreed, finding such a request “per se” unreasonable under...
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