ADA

The historical uncertainty regarding whether businesses must have websites and mobile applications that are accessible to persons with disabilities has been, in part, the result of the absence of regulatory direction as to whether such digital assets are covered by Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

While regulations have yet to be promulgated, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on March 18, 2022 published Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA explaining that entities covered by Title II (state and local governments) and Title III (places of public accommodation) should ensure their websites are accessible to people with disabilities in line with the ADA’s requirements.… Continue Reading

On December 14, 2021, the EEOC updated its COVID-19 Technical Assistance manual Technical Assistance manual to address when employees who contract COVID-19 are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The ADA generally prohibits discrimination against (1) a person with disability; (2) a person who has a record of impairment; or (3) an employee who is regarded by the covered entity as an individual with a disability.… Continue Reading

On November 17, 2021, the EEOC, as it has done throughout the pandemic, updated its COVID-19 Technical Assistance manual. The additional questions and answers clarify that applicants and current and former employees are protected from relation for exercising EEO rights in connection with COVID-19. The guidance identifies particular examples of protected activity, which employees may engage in without fear of retaliation, including:

  • Filing a charge, complaint, or lawsuit, regardless whether the underlying discrimination allegation is successful or timely.
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Last week, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that an employee whose employment was terminated on the same day she disclosed to her employer that she had tested positive for COVID-19 sufficiently pled a claim of “regarded as” disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (“PHRA”). … Continue Reading

On September 7, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed a lawsuit claiming an employer discriminated against disabled employees by failing to provide workplace accommodations related to COVID-19. Specifically, the EEOC has accused ISS Facility Services Inc. a Denmark-based facilities management company, of unlawfully denying its employee’s reasonable request for an accommodation for her disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), and then firing her for making the request.… Continue Reading

Today, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) substantially augmented its technical assistance questions and answers related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal equal employment opportunity laws. It also released a new document targeted at employees and job applicants that explains how federal anti-discrimination laws apply during the COVID-19 pandemic.… Continue Reading

On April 7, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Winn-Dixie Stores’ websites are not “public accommodations” and therefore are not subject to the accessibility requirements of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  The decision reversed a 2017 federal district court opinion – in what may be the only website accessibility case to ever go to trial – that required the grocery store chain to make its website accessible to individuals with visual disabilities. … Continue Reading

As employers wrestle with whether to require vaccines for employees or how to encourage employees to get vaccinated voluntarily, many companies are implementing incentive programs that provide gifts, paid time off and even cash payments to employees who get vaccinated.  In doing so, employers need to consider whether their vaccine programs should be treated as employee wellness programs. … Continue Reading

Employers may be interested in requiring or incentivizing their workforces to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to help curb the potential spread of the virus in the workplace.  Before undertaking such a program, employers should stop and think about the legal considerations that will influence how such programs are structured.… Continue Reading

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that it will issue much anticipated guidance that revises its nondiscrimination rules for wellness programs under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act.  The two sets of proposed regulations replace rules that the EEOC withdrew in 2018 after a federal district court invalidated key provisions on incentive limits on the grounds that the EEOC had not appropriately justified the limits that it set. … Continue Reading