By Joshua A. Rodine and Kimberly Shen

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a summary judgment award on an employee’s failure-to-accommodate claim. The Court’s decision focused on the employer’s improperly narrow delineation of the essential functions of the employee’s position.

Hampton v. Utah Department of Corrections

It is the ultimate legal and PR nightmare for any

Continue Reading Tenth Circuit Highlights Limits on Employers Defining Essential Functions of a Position

By James L. CurtisAdam R. Young, Matthew A. Sloan, and Craig B. Simonsen

Seyfarth Synopsis: Employees who complain about safety measures to protect employees from COVID-19 may be protected from retaliation by federal and state laws.  Employees who refuse to perform job functions may also be protected.

News media reports during the COVID-19 pandemic highlight
Continue Reading Whistleblower Liability for Employee Safety Complaints During the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Stan Hill and Cary Reid Burke

Seyfarth Synopsis: Recently, when affirming summary judgment to the employer in a disability discrimination case, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued two welcome reminders. First, to pursue a disability accommodation, an employee must actually ask for an accommodation (although not necessarily using any magic words). Second, and just as fundamentally, employees must
Continue Reading Ask, or You Shall Not Receive: 5th Circuit Nixes Accommodation Claim for Employee’s Failure to Ask for an Accommodation

By Rhandi Childress Anderson and Erin Dougherty Foley

Seyfarth Synopsis: Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals clarifies that employers have discretion to provide a reasonable accommodation as identified through the interactive process. Once an employee abandons the interactive process, the employer has no duty to accommodate.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the purpose of the interactive process is
Continue Reading The ADA Does Not Obligate Employers To Make On-The-Spot Accommodations Of The Employee’s Choosing

By Sara Eber Fowler and Lynn Kappelman

Seyfarth Synopsis: Oregon’s new employee scheduling law – impacting hourly employees at large retail, food service, and hospitality employers – goes into effect after the end of this week, on July 1. Affected employers must now be aware of the potential consequences in changing employees’ schedules.

Friendly Reminder! At the end of this
Continue Reading As Predicted…. On July 1, Oregon Will Become The First State With A Predictable Scheduling Law

By Kelsey P. Montgomery

Seyfarth Synopsis: Employee committed to taking opioids loses his job and his disability discrimination lawsuit because he refused to consider alternative pain management.

The “interactive process” required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended by the ADA Amendments Act, is a two-way street between an employee and his or her employer.  Consistent with
Continue Reading Employees are ALSO Required to Engage in the Interactive Process Under the ADA

By Sara Eber Fowler

Seyfarth Synopsis: Last minute scheduling change?  Want to make sure you have enough employees on stand-by to cover shifts?  In a growing number of areas around the country, that will cost you. 

Fair scheduling laws – sometimes referred to as “predictive” or “predictable” scheduling – are popping up in city councils and state legislatures across
Continue Reading Fair Game? Predictable Scheduling Laws — The Sensation Sweeping The Nation

By Rachel Hoffer, John P. Phillips and Mahek Bhojani

Seyfarth Synopsis: In a recent win for employers, the Fifth Circuit clarified that opened-ended or unlimited requests to work from home are unreasonable under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and may be rejected during the interactive process. In addition, the Court instructed lower courts to give preference over other
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Says Regular Attendance at Work is an Essential Function of Most Jobs

By Christopher W. Kelleher, Tracy M. Billows, and Joshua D. Seidman

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Illinois General Assembly will consider the proposed Healthy Workplace Act which, if passed into law, will require most Illinois employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees.

Illinois legislators have caught the paid sick leave bug that has been going around the
Continue Reading Illinois Catches The Paid Sick Leave Bill Bug

By Anne S. Bider, Robert A. Fisher, and James M. Hlawek

Seyfarth Synopsis: On February 5, 2017, in M.C.A.D. v. Country Bank for Savings, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (“MCAD”) held that an employer engaged in unlawful disability discrimination when it terminated an employee whose medical leave had ended and who could not provide a definite return to
Continue Reading “I’ll Be Back To Work Soon”: Massachusetts Addresses An Employer’s Obligations When Employee On Leave Gives An Indefinite Return Date