Tag Archives: Americans with Disabilities Act

A worker who was fired for her panic attacks won a $21.7 million jury verdict against her employer, including $16.5 million in punitive damages for the employer’s malice. April Rodriguez was a customer service rep for waste disposal company Valley Vista Services. The 34-year-old mother of four asked for time off and work accommodations to deal with her panic attacks. Instead, she was fired. She sued her employer and its parent company, Zerep Management Corp., claiming her firing was illegal …

In two recent cases, the EEOC settled with employers who had fired workers because of positive drug tests for prescription drugs. But in states where medical marijuana is legal, can employers fire employees who test positive but have prescriptions for the drug?   Drug Tests & Disability Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), of course, employers are forbidden from discriminating against workers based on their disabilities. Nor can an employer discriminate against an employee based on its perception – …

Has your employer ever asked you exactly what’s keeping you home sick? If so, it may be violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. The EEOC announced on Dec. 18 that it has settled for $2 million a case against Dillard’s Department Stores that was based on a companywide policy that for employees’ absences to be excused, they had to disclose confidential health information – in violation of the ADA, according to the EEOC.   Expensive Outdated Policies Dillard’s fired Corina …

If you work in Illinois, Indiana, or Wisconsin, it just got a little easier for your employer to reveal to others any health care information that you voluntarily offer up. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 20 issued an opinion in EEOC v. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, taking a narrow reading of the Americans with Disabilities Act’s confidentiality provisions that protect employees’ health information.   Fake Reference Check In general, the ADA requires that employers keep medical …

Notorious Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio will face a second civil trial next year over the death of a mentally ill man who had been arrested by Maricopa County deputies less than two weeks before he died of a heart attack. The suit contends that law enforcement agents mistreated Eric Vogel in 2001 when they tore his clothes off after arresting him on suspicion of burglary in order to dress him in Arpaio’s famous pink underpants, standard wear for inmates in …