Sympathetic does not always equal protected under the ADA

Photo by Pexels on Pixabay

Today’s opinion is a lesson straight out of the school of hard knocks. No matter how sympathetic the plaintiff or how harrowing his plights, the law is the law and sometimes it’s just not on his side.

When an opinion starts with this quote, you know that the plaintiff is not going to have a good day.

What happened in Sepúlveda-Vargas v. Caribbean Restaurants, LLC (1st Cir. 4/30/18) to garner this tough life lesson from the court?

Should employers still test for marijuana?

Photo by Michael Fischer from Pexels

Ohio’s medical marijuana program is set to be fully operational by September 2018. Ohio will join 28 other states, and the District of Columbia, in which doctors can legally prescribe marijuana to treat certain medical conditions.

Ohio’s medical marijuana law does not require that employers accommodate employees’ lawful use of medical marijuana. It also permits employers still to maintain drug testing policies, drug-free workplace policies, and zero-tolerance drug policies.

Yet, with the lawful use of marijuana spreading, employers are asking if it still makes sense to test for it as part of pre-employment drug screenings.

The 8th nominee for the “worst employer of 2018” is … the age discriminator

Today’s nominee for the Worst Employer of 2018 is Seasons 52, a national, Orlando-based restaurant chain.

Last week, it agreed to pay $2.85 million to settle a nationwide class age discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC. The lawsuit included significant direct evidence of age discrimination.

WIRTW #504 (the “once bitten, twice shy” edition)

Never in my life did I think that I’d ever attend a biker rally. Yet, three weeks from tomorrow, I’ll be in Sandusky, at Ohio Bike Week.

Why?

I’ll be watching Norah and her bandmates warming up the crowd for 80’s hair band Great White.

If you’re attending, please say hi. I’ll be the one without the motorcycle.

THIS is how you reasonably accommodate a disabled employee

Photo by David Pisnoy on Unsplash

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past 16 months discussing bad employers—those that so mishandled employees that they earned a spot on my list of America’s Worst Employers.

Today, I thought I’d take a look at the brighter side—an employer that handled a tricky employee issue correctly.

5.1 millions reason to keep religion out of your workplace

I’m thinking of starting a religion

“Onionhead” teaches people to direct their emotions in a truthful and compassionate way. It is central to the teachings of the Harnessing Happiness Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to emotional knowledge and intelligence, conflict resolution, and life handling skills.

Onionhead is also central to a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC against United Health Programs of America and its parent, Cost Containment Group. The aunt of the defendants’ CEO is the creator of Onionhead.

No one should ever have to choose between their children and their job

Three female associates at Morrison & Foerster have filed an alleged $100 million class-action sex discrimination lawsuit against the firm. They claim that their employer “mommy tracks” lawyer moms working at the firm by denying them opportunities for advancement and higher pay.

According to the lawsuit [pdf] (care of the ABA Journal):