Today’s case is a twofer. That is, we are going to talk about two different cases, both dealing with the interactive process and essential functions of the job. The first case is an unpublished decision from the 11th Circuit, Kassa v. Synovus Financial Corporation, decided February 3, 2020. The second case is Seward
Qualified Individual
Repeated Violations Doctrine
This is a situation I see all the time. Let’s say you are at a university. A student goes to disability services, gets an accommodation plan, even gives it to the teacher. The teacher resists. The student may or may not try to fix it until later in the semester figuring that something will develop.…
Qualified Otherwise Qualified Means Factoring in Reasonable Accommodations
Today’s blog entry returns us back to the world of employment law. One of the things that drives me crazy is that people, including judges, sometimes forget whether a person is qualified to do a particular job means assessing whether the individual can perform the essential functions of the job WITH or without reasonable accommodations.…
Interaction Between FMLA and ADA: A Whole Lot Going on
The best weekend in sports is no doubt the first and second round of the NCAA basketball tournament. I hope your bracket survived. The UMBC VA game was amazing (even my 14-year-old daughter was into it), and there were plenty of other upsets along the way as well. I am in two pools (brother and…
Does Title II of the ADA Apply to Employment? Two Views
This week when I was looking for a case to blog about I came across the case of Torres v. Junto De Gobierno De Servicio De Emergencia, where on April 28, 2015 United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico denied a motion to reconsider. In the original opinion and order, they…
How not to defend essential functions of the job
In a previous blog entry, I discussed how a company could do an excellent job of defending litigation over what are essential functions of the job. This particular blog entry deals with the opposite scenario, where the company does not do a very good job at all of accomplishing that task. The case is…
Would having a disability protect you from being terminated for harassing others?
Consider: Employee/volunteer/Intern… with a disability is sexually harassing his or her coworkers. The disability is such that the employee/volunteer is unlikely to stop. The hiring authority terminates the employee/volunteer and the employee/volunteer sues the hiring authority for disability discrimination. This sounds very much like what could’ve been the case with the former Mayor of San…
Class-action and persons with disabilities R.I.P.?
Here’s a fact. No two disabilities even the same ones are the same. Accordingly, it makes perfect sense that the ADA requires an individual analysis throughout. Further, under both title I and title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act, in addition to having a disability, the person must be qualified. That is, capable of…
Title II, employment, and essential eligibility requirements
Before we get started on the blog entry, I want to thank everyone for their readership. This week, we should surpass the 1000 visitor mark. Also, we have now surpassed the 10,000 view mark. Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!
This blog entry explores whether title II of the ADA applies to employment issues, and how do you go about…