"Disability Discrimination"

This post was authored by Matthew Nakano.

On July 11, 2017, Liebert Cassidy Whitmore’s Jennifer Rosner partnered with Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) Assistant Chief Counsel Paula Pearlman to present a seminar on “How to Avoid Claims of Disability Discrimination: The Road to Reasonable Accommodation.”  This seminar focused on navigating the challenges

Medical LeaveLast week, in Higgins-Williams v. Sutter Medical Foundation, the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Third Appellate District, upheld the trial court’s granting of summary judgment for an employer where it determined that an employee’s inability to work for a particular supervisor, because of anxiety and stress related to the supervisor’s standard

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It’s that time of year again to reflect on this year’s achievements and set goals for the new year.  With the beginning of 2014 upon us, we encourage personnel and human resources directors, managers and 

1.  Evaluate Your Agency’s Handling of Disability-Related Issues

Employee disability-related issues are among the most complicated and confusing that employers

Pregnant.jpgNew Fair Employment and Housing Commission regulations took effect December 30, 2012 and deal with disability discrimination.  This blog post will focus on the impact of the new regulations on issues related to pregnancy and the treatment of pregnancy related conditions as disabilities. 

The new regulations expand the scope of pregnancy related conditions that can

Jury.jpgThe California Court of Appeal recently highlighted a fundamental flaw in the California Civil Jury Instructions (“CACI”) on a cause of action for retaliation in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”).  The instruction is missing the element of retaliatory intent or animus.  This flaw has not been brought to the forefront previously

Performance-Review.pngHow many times have you heard LCW attorneys tell you to timely and accurately complete performance evaluations?  You likely hear this advice at every Employment Relations Consortium training you’ve attended.  A recent case reminds us all how crucial honest performance evaluations and other forms of progressive discipline can be.

In the case of Dickerson v. Board of Trustees of Community College District No. 522,   Bobby Dickerson was employed as a part-time janitor by an Illinois Community College District.  Between 2005 and 2007, his supervisor gave him written warnings issued for his refusal to perform work assignments, failure to secure job-related equipment, and for leaving the worksite without permission.  In 2005, 2006 and 2007, Dickerson applied for full-time positions with the district, but never succeeded.  Shortly after his third failed attempt at a promotion, Dickerson complained to the district that he was being discriminated against because of his “personal traits” and a speech defect. 

Dickerson then received a performance evaluation in December, 2007 for the period of November, 2006 through November, 2007.  Dickerson received “unsatisfactory” ratings in three of the seven performance categories.  The supervisor also provided written comments such as, “Dickerson is consistently late for work and needs to improve;” “jobs need to be redone because of not listening to the job instructions;” and that Dickerson “does only the bare minimum to meet job requirements.”  Dickerson disagreed with the evaluation and filed a grievance with his union alleging the district gave him the evaluation in retaliation for his exercise of union activities.

In February, 2008, Dickerson filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging the district failed to promote him to a full-time position because it believed he was mentally disabled in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Dickerson had a below average IQ which indicated “mild mental retardation.”

Shortly after filing the EEOC complaint, Dickerson approached the Vice President of Human Resources and asked what he should be doing differently in order to be promoted to a full-time position.  The Vice President replied to the effect of, “you are suing your employer and you should not be suing your employer.”Continue Reading Documentation Of Poor Work Performance Defeated Claims Of Discrimination And Retaliation In Violation Of The ADA

Since the beginning of month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has filed a dozen lawsuits against employers for disability discrimination.  Four lawsuits, which were filed in the Northern and Eastern Districts of the U.S. District Court, address various facets of disability discrimination.

One of the cases was filed against Walgreens drug store

This guest post was authored by Alison Carrinski

Kindle.jpgEmerging technologies, such as e-book readers, seem to be everywhere and growing in numbers.  E-book readers offer students the ability to download books instantaneously and carry hundreds of books on a hand-held device.  But given that some e-book readers do not have text-to-speech functionality or Braille displays

We get questions…

An employer called with this inquiry: “one of our employees has been on leave under The Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) for a serious health condition and the 12 weeks have expired.  The employee has not come back to work and the most recent medical note states that the employee will