By Phillip J. Ebsworth and Jennifer L. Mora
Seyfarth Synopsis: While employees often will toot their own horn, employers sometimes may have concerns about their ability to safely perform their job. If this situation rings a bell, it will be music to your ears to hear that it may be possible to request employees to undergo a medical examination
Continue Reading Is Your Employee As Fit As A Fiddle?
By David J. Rowland and Cheryl A. Luce
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Seventh Circuit sent shockwaves through the EEOC and through the employer community by concluding that multi-month leaves of absence, even those that are definite in term and sought in advance, are not required by the ADA.
To the surprise of many observers, and undoubtedly the EEOC, the Seventh
Continue Reading A Shocker from the Heartland: A Long Term Leave of Absence is NOT A Reasonable Accommodation Under the ADA
Sometimes all you need is a fresh start…or two. In its third attempt at filing a complaint challenging an inflexible 12-month leave limitation policy, the EEOC injected new life into an ongoing battle against maximum or “no-fault” leave policies by classifying them as impermissible “qualification standards” in violation of the ADA.
Last month, the Chicago-based U.S. District
Continue Reading Third Time’s the Charm: The EEOC Successfully Asserts Inflexible Leave Policies are Impermissible Qualification Standards under the ADA
As discussed in our August 28, 2013 blog entry HERE, in most jurisdictions, a leave of absence may be a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee, if the leave would allow the employee to return to work in the foreseeable future. No court had affirmatively held (at least in any published opinion) that an indefinite
Continue Reading An Indefinite Leave Of Absence May Be A Reasonable Accommodation?! Wait, Just A New York Minute…
By: Erin Wetty
As we all know, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for known disabilities of employees to enable them to perform a position’s essential functions, unless doing so would result in undue hardship to the employer’s operations. 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b). Under the ADA, selecting an appropriate and reasonable accommodation requires a highly individualized, case-by-case analysis, one that depends on the employee’s disability and the essential functions of the job.
As discussed in our July 30, 2013 blog entry, the EEOC has concluded that employees may be entitled to a leave of absence as a reasonable accommodation, unless the employer demonstrates that holding open the position would impose an undue hardship.
At What Point Is Enough Enough?
Although the ADA does not mandate any specific time limit on the amount of leave a disabled employee may take as a reasonable accommodation, the majority of courts to consider the issue have found that a leave of absence cannot be indefinite.
Continue Reading “See you in…well, I don’t know when”: Is an Unlimited Leave of Absence a Reasonable Accommodation Under the ADA?