By: James B. Sherman, Esq.
Employment claims under the ADA are definitely on the rise and, thanks to various amendments to the law, so too are class action lawsuits alleging discrimination based on disability. For those employers who have been proactive in modifying workplace policies and practices to account for these changes, congratulations - you may be ahead of the curve. However, as with any policy or practice attorneys and HR professionals can come up with they are only as good as the people who must implement and/or adhere to them; i.e., those who manage or supervise employees!
Within days of when the EEOC's new regulations on the ADA came out in May 2011, I was conducting seminars and webinars to educate employers on the significant changes in the law and the implications they hold for employers. Since then, I have been besieged by employers over many states with requests to conduct training for their managers and supervisors. The reason is simple - the EEOC is actively enforcing its new regulations and they are fraught with pitfalls most people cannot even imagine. For example, many supervisors are completely unaware of the potential for someone who is not disabled still to successfully sue under the ADA if their "impairment" was seen as the basis for even part of an employment decision. Keeping on the right side of the law where an employee has an "impairment," but not a "disability," is easier said than done. Another common pitfall involves leaves of absence, long term disability, short term disability and the EEOC's new approach to reinstatement that has resulted in served class action claims here in the upper Midwest.
Supervisors and managers need to have a working knowledge of the many new legal pitfalls presented by the amendments to the ADA and the EEOC's new regulations and enforcement agenda. If you are interested in having training for your company's supervisors and managers to steer clear of legal troubles, contact attorney James B. Sherman* at (952) 746-1700, or email jasherman@wesselssherman.com.
*James Sherman was lead trial counsel in the country's very first ADA trial with the EEOC, in Chicago in 1993. In the eighteen years since then, he has successfully defended a vast array of ADA lawsuits and charges in numerous states. Mr. Sherman is also a frequent lecturer on ADA compliance issues and has done in-house training for managers and supervisors of large, national corporations as well as mid-size and small employers across much of the country dating back to when the ADA first became law.
