Tag: ADA

Preemployment Inquiries: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

When a company first meets with a prospective candidate, it’s not just the interviewee who needs to be on his or her toes. Interviewers must be careful to ask the right questions, not just to ensure they’re making the right hire but also to avoid legal entanglements.

Supreme Court Revives Pregnancy Accommodation Suit

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 25 vacated and remanded an appeals court ruling that the Pregnancy Discrimination Act does not require employers to accommodate pregnant employees. In Young v. UPS, the 4th Circuit held that UPS did not violate the PDA by limiting light-duty accommodations to employees: (1) injured on the job; (2) disabled as […]

Using Facebook for Background Checks

Should you consider using Facebook as part of your background screening process? It may be beneficial because it could turn up potential problems and keep you from hiring someone who could be a problem later on. But it can also be a risk because Facebook pages are known to contain an abundance of personal information—and […]

‘Choose Child or Job’: Manager’s Comment Sends ADA Suit to Trial

A manager’s comment has allowed an employee to keep her disability discrimination claim alive, according to a recent court ruling. In Manon v. 878 Education, LLC (No. 12-cv-3476 (March 4, 2015)), a worker alleged that she was fired because her daughter has a disability; her claims survived summary judgment because she was able to show that her […]

Jury Awards $2.6M to Pharmacist With Needle Phobia

Rite Aid Corp. will soon appeal a $2.6 million jury award for a pharmacist who is afraid of needles, according to recent court filings. A federal jury determined in January that the pharmacist’s phobia was a disability covered by the Americans with Disabilities and that he was fired because of that fear. Christopher Stevens, who […]

Train Leaders to Practice ‘Defensive Management’ Best Practices

  To recap, attorneys representing aggrieved employees in discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage and hour, and other types of employment claims love allegations of supervisor wrongdoing because that’s the “smoking gun” they need to paint that supervisor as a villain—whose statements, acts, decisions, and omissions should result in liability for the employer. Also, such acts may […]

Employers Must Treat Pregnant Workers Mindfully to Avoid Compliance Challenges

Proper treatment of pregnant workers is in the headlines as a result of recent guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on pregnancy accommodations and a high profile U.S. Supreme Court case involving a UPS worker. More than ever employers must be mindful of how they’re treating pregnant workers as there are a host […]