Category: Disability Discrimination

Quirky Question # 185; Accommodating a Disabled Employee Who Only Can Work a Partial Shift

Quirky Question # 185; Accommodating a Disabled Employee Who Only Can Work a Partial Shift

Question: We run a manufacturing company.  We are fortunate in that, despite the difficult economy, our products remain in high demand.  One of our employees has a couple of related disabilities, the consequence of which is that he only can work a maximum of 8 hours each day.  In the past, we have been able to accommodate this limitation.  But,...

Quirky Question # 182, Accommodating Employee with Disabled Spouse

Quirky Question # 182, Accommodating Employee with Disabled Spouse

Question: One of our management employees has a spouse with some serious health problems.  Until recently, this fact has not had an impact on his job performance. Of late, however, he has been distracted by his wife’s recurrent illness (understandably) and her associated treatment.  This problem now is affecting his performance.  After a failed attempt to work with him to improve his...

Quirky Question # 178: Medical Marijuana and the ADA

Quirky Question # 178: Medical Marijuana and the ADA

Question: We are a large company with operations in several states. Three of the states in which we operate permit medical marijuana use: California, Oregon, and Washington. One of our factory employees, working in an Oregon location, recently requested that we accommodate his medicinal use of marijuana. The employee claims that even if state medical marijuana law and discrimination law...

Quirky Question # 176: Obesity, Disabilities and the ADAAA

Quirky Question # 176: Obesity, Disabilities and the ADAAA

Question: We run a full-service lakefront resort, and our prime season is starting this month. We are open year-round, but increase our staff size significantly each summer by re-hiring many employees who return each year. One of our long-time summer waiters, who has always been a bit overweight, arrived this year heavier than before and unable to fit into the...

Quirky Question # 163, Accessing Mental Health Records in a Physical Disability Case

Quirky Question # 163, Accessing Mental Health Records in a Physical Disability Case

Question: One of our employees recently claimed that he is entitled to a reasonable accommodation of his physical disability (a serious back problem). We were unable to work out an accommodation for the employee (we probably did not do as much as we should have during the negotiation phase) and we terminated his employment. He then sued us under the...

Reasonable Accommodation for Absent Employee?  Quirky Question # 154

Reasonable Accommodation for Absent Employee? Quirky Question # 154

Quirky Question #154 One of our manufacturing employees, call him Jim, was fairly seriously injured in an accident on the production floor. Jim applied for workers’ compensation and was examined by a doctor. The doctor let us know that in his opinion, Jim would no longer be able to perform his job, since it required a significant amount of lifting...

Alcoholism and a Last Chance Warning, Quirky Question # 142

Alcoholism and a Last Chance Warning, Quirky Question # 142

Question: I work as an HR representative in a medium-sized California business – we employ about 50 people.  Recently, a situation with one of our employees was brought to my attention, and I’ve been asked how to handle it.  We have an administrative assistant with an alcohol problem.  We have reason to believe that her alcoholism was the true reason...

Threatening Behavior — A Mental Health Disability?  Quirky Question # 132

Threatening Behavior — A Mental Health Disability? Quirky Question # 132

Quirky Question # 132: One of our employees has been very belligerent of late.  He has made comments to co-workers that were intimidating and frightening.  Some of his co-workers have considered them to be threats of violence and have reported them to our HR group. HR investigated, corroborated the accuracy of the allegations, and confronted the employee.  He basically admitted...

ADA and ADHD, Quirky Question # 125

ADA and ADHD, Quirky Question # 125

Quirky Question # 125: We, like others who have recently submitted questions to you, have an ADA issue.  We have an employee who seemingly is unable to focus, to complete a task that he has started.  Simply stated, he is easily distracted.  His job responsibilities are important, and others are dependent on his efforts. I am familiar with the issue...