Posted on November 23, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
Employers often establish a light-duty program that is reserved for employees who have work-related injuries or conditions during their healing periods. The hallmarks of these programs is that temporary light-duty work is reserved for those employees receiving temporary benefits under worker’s compensation. The rationale for this program is to help the employer comply with the […]
Posted on May 8, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
A recent lawsuit filed in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleges that an employer violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by terminating an employee who had a doctor-diagnosed sleep disorder. According to the filing, the disorder limits the hours of the day and night during which the employee is […]
Posted on May 1, 2015 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
Last week, a federal jury in an Americans with Disabilities Act case entered a 2.6 million dollar plaintiff’s verdict in favor of a former Rite Aid Corporation pharmacist who Rite Aid allegedly discharged in response to his inability to administer flu shots. According to court records, the former Rite Aid pharmacist suffered from trypanophobia, which […]
Posted on July 8, 2014 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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Recent court actions continue to support a claim that obesity is a covered disability. America’s Car-Mart (Car-Mart) reached a mutual agreement to settle a claim brought by a former employee alleging that Car-Mart discharged him from his General Manager position because of his severe obesity and because his employer regarded him as being substantially limited […]
Posted on May 20, 2014 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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The Eighth Circuit recently decided a case that stands for the notion that an employer’s description of the essential functions of an employee’s job, and not the employee’s specific personal experience in the job, is critical in determining whether or not an employee is qualified for protection under the ADA. In Knutson v. Schwan’s Home […]
Posted on May 20, 2014 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
One of my colleagues recently wrote about an Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that determined whether an employee is disabled. That determination was based on the employee’s ability to perform the essential functions of the job. Rather than considering the actual duties being performed by the employee, the Court looked to the job description […]
Posted on May 20, 2014 by Ruder Ware Alumni
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Recent action by the United States Supreme Court has clarified the duty of accommodation that an employer must make under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The action of the U.S. Supreme Court was to deny review of a 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision involving United Airlines. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision held […]
Posted on May 20, 2014 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
I wrote several blogs about potential areas of new disability claims relating to the use of caffeine and a new mental health disorder that may affect non-productive employees. A recent federal court case held that a partially deaf retail store pharmacy technician was entitled to file a disability claim when her employer placed the employee […]
Posted on May 19, 2014 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
A recent decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has opened the door to consideration of a duty to accommodate under the Americans With Disabilities Act that goes beyond the need to accommodate an employee with assistance to perform the essential functions of the employee’s job. In this decision, the 5th Circuit Court of […]
Posted on May 19, 2014 by Ruder Ware Alumni
Blog
A colleague wrote recently that the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that when determining whether an employee is disabled or not because the employee cannot perform the essential functions of the job, the key document to be considered by the Court is the job description prepared by an employer to describe the […]