Since Congress amended the Americans with Disabilities Act revising the definition of “disability” and greatly expanding the number of individuals who are “disabled” and therefore entitled to reasonable accommodation, employers spend large amounts of time engaging in the interactive process to determine whether there are reasonable accommodations that will enable otherwise qualified individuals to perform
EEOC to Target Companies Using Non-traditional Working Relationships
Yesterday, the EEOC published its four-year Strategic Enforcement Plan for fiscal years 2017 through 2021. The Plan is the Commission’s list of areas of priority where it intends to focus its resources in the next four years. The purpose of the Plan is to identify those areas the Commission believes are likely to have a
EEOC Charge Filings Hit Record Number for FY 2010
If you have not experienced it already, the EEOC is very active under the Obama administration. Proof of this heightened activity is evident in the most recent statistics released by the EEOC for the fiscal year ending September 20, 2011.
Here is a summary of some of the highlights from the EEOC FY 2010 statistics (the Commission’s
The EEOC Wants You to Consider Hiring this Guy.
The EEOC is reviewing whether the use of arrest and criminal conviction information acts as a hiring barrier and whether employers should be precluded from asking about criminal convictions. The EEOC publicized the meeting in a press release titled Striking a Balance Between Workplace Fairness and Workplace Safety. Particularly troubling about this hearing is the fact that
Transitioning HR Professionals –Look to Verizon for Employment
Verizon agreed to pay $20 million dollars and ceasing using its no-fault attendance policy for absences caused by impairments qualifying as disabilities under the ADAAA. Whatever the size of Verizon’s Human Resources Department, it looks like its going to need to be a lot larger.
As part of the settlement with the EEOC, Verizon agreed that
EEOC Takes Hog-Like Approach on Attendance as Essential Job Function
There’s an old saying in rural America that "pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered." We used the phrase to describe someone who, instead of being satisfied with what he has, gets greedy. In the litigation context it can be used to describe a party that takes overly aggressive, unreasonable and untenable positions. My fellow bloggers, Work Blawg
Could the EEOC Sue on Behalf of an Employee Who Wanted the Right to Masturbate at Work?
There has been a lot of ink spilled and kilobytes written about how the ADA Amendments Act has substantially expanded the rights of individuals with disabilities to seek and obtain reasonable workplace accommodations. (See post, post, post, and post). The increase in the number of applicants and employees who qualify for reasonable accommodations and
El Paso EEOC Sues Starbucks over Height Challenged Barista
In a suit you don’t see filed everyday, the El Paso District Office of the EEOC recently filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against Starbucks over the termination of an employee suffering from dwarfism. According to the EEOC’s Complaint:
Charging Part has a physical impairment, dwarfism. . . [and] is substantially limited in the major life
Is the EEOC Getting Interested in Disparate Impact Claims?
Last week the EEOC issued two Informal Discussion Letters addressing employment practices or policies that might create liability under a disparate impact theory of discrimination. Since the discussion letters do not constitute official opinions or interpretations of the Commission, the significance of back-to-back letters on the same topic is not the content (the letters do not break any new legal ground or make any surprising pronouncements)
EEOC and Law Firm go Toe-to-Toe over Administrative Subpoena for Law Firm Documents in Sexual Harassment Investigation
When investigating a charge of discrimination, the EEOC has the authority to issue administrative subpoenas requiring employers to produce relevant information. This power, however, is rarely used because most employers voluntarily comply with the EEOC’s reasonable requests for information.
In San Antonio, a law firm respondent is testing the EEOC’s powers to require information be produced