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Service Animals In The COVID-Era Workplace

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
11/05/2021
COVID-19, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden
There are endless articles and blog posts about COVID and the workplace, whether managing remote workers, implementing a safe return to work, vaccination mandates, testing procedures, masking, reasonable accommodation requests on all of these issues, and all of the related issues that have been on the forefront for the past nineteen (!!) months.  One topic, however, that has not received as much press, at least per my internet searches, is handling...
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The EEOC Takes On Its First COVID-Telework Lawsuit Under The ADA.

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
09/29/2021
Agency Activity, COVID-19, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Telework, Uncategorized
Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed its first lawsuit under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) against a facility management services company, ISS Facility Services, Inc., due its failure to permit one of its employees to continue working remotely amidst COVID.  The case is EEOC v. ISS Facility Servs., Inc., No. 1:21-CV-3708-SCJ-RDC (N.D. Ga. 2021). Ronisha Moncrief worked as a Health Safety and...
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Virginia Employers Must Post Reasonable Accommodations Poster In Workplace

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
07/13/2021
Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Virginia Employment Law
As of July 1, 2021, covered Virginia employers are required by the Virginia Office of Civil Rights to post the newly issued poster in a conspicuous location and provide a copy of the poster to any employee who discloses they have a disability, within ten (10) days of the employee's disclosure.  This information about reasonable accommodations must also be included in their employee handbooks.   A covered employer for purposes of this requirement...
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Telework May Be A Continuing Reasonable Accommodation

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
03/24/2021
Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Telework
The case of Brownlow v. Alfa Vision Insurance Co., No. 3:18-cv-01241 (M.D. Tenn. Mar. 22, 2021), involves a set of facts from pre-COVID times (2016 and 2017 to be exact).  Mr. Brownlow, a former claims appraiser for an automobile insurance company, was diagnosed with a variety of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety and PTSD.  He requested and was granted the ability to telework as a reasonable accommodation for a period...
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EEOC Issues Updated Guidance On Religious Discrimination

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
12/08/2020
Agency Activity, EEOC, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Religious Discrimination, Uncategorized
Last month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published a new update to its 2008 guidance on religious discrimination in the workplace.  Recognizing the "altered legal landscape" that has transpired in the last 12 years, the agency issued a modernized version of its guidance that covers employer obligations and employee rights.  Specifically, the guidance addresses: Coverage, including when a particular religious practice or...
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EEOC's Updated COVID-19 Guidance: Employees Not Entitled To Accommodations Because They Live With High-Risk Individuals; Treat Older Workers Equally Despite Risk

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
06/11/2020
Age Discrimination, COVID-19, EEOC, Employment Discrimination, Pregnancy Discrimination, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden
In an updated guidance on COVID-19, the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws, the EEOC has clarified an employer need not accommodate an employee's request to telework who is not high risk but lives with high risk individuals.  The EEOC has also clarified that companies may not mandate exclude older workers and pregnant employees from the workplace even though public health authorities advise they are a higher risk group for severe...
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The Inability To Work For A Particular Supervisor Is NOT A Disability Under The ADAAA

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
02/28/2020
Disability & Leave, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reconfirmed the well-established principle under the Americans with Disabilities Act that an employee must be unable to work in a broad class or range of jobs in order to be disabled within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA).  In particular, in Woolf v. Strada, the Second Circuit held that an employee who was unable to work in his particular job as a result of stress...
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New California Law Adds Protected Status Based On Hairstyle

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
07/08/2019
Legislative Developments, Race Discrimination, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden
This past week marked not only the anniversary of our Independence Day, but also the 55th anniversary of the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Amidst this well-deserved fanfare, California became the first state to make hairstyle a protected status under its state anti-discrimination law, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). Presently, employers who take actions based on an individual’s headwear, when worn for religious reasons...
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Employee Grooming Standards: Ensuring Your Policy Complies With Title VII

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/28/2018
Employment Discrimination, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden, Religious Discrimination
Last week, as many readers are likely aware, a high school wrestling referee in New Jersey ordered an African American student wrestler tocut his dreadlocksimmediately prior to a match, or else forfeit the match.  According to the referee, the dreadlocks and head covering the wrestler offered to wear violated the league’s rules.  A video of the controversial haircut hit the internet, quickly inciting responses from many people that the...
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Jury Decides That Mercedes Benz Did Not Deliver The Best To A Former Employee With Cancer

Randi Klein Hyatt
Randi Klein Hyatt
10/12/2018
Disability & Leave, Reasonable Accommodations/Undue Burden
A Mercedes Benz dealership in Seattle violated the Americans With Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) and Washington state disability law when it denied its finance director the chance to return to work after his surgery for vocal chord cancer.  The federal jury awarded the employee nearly $5 million. Troy Coachman worked for Seattle Auto Management, Inc. as a finance director.  His lawsuit alleges he was a top producer, generating...
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