When Can an Employer Require an Employee to Undergo a Medical Exam Under the ADA?
Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), 42 U,S.C. §§ 12111-12117, makes it unlawful for an employer to “require a medical examination” or to “make inquiries of an employee as to whether such employee is an individual with a disability or as to the nature or severity of the disability, unless such examination...
Read MoreEstate Planning: Lifetime Gifts of Closely Held Business Stock to Family Members
“Rather than disposing of stock in a closely held business (by sale or corporate reorganization) at retirement the retiree may decide to transfer all or a portion of the stock by gifts to various family members.” Streng & Davis, Tax Planning for Retirement 7.05[1] (Thomson Reuters Tax and Accounting 2018). Three important objectives can be...
Read MoreDisability Discrimination in Employment: Health Care Employer Could Condition Employment on Health Screening and Vaccination
The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) prohibits covered employers from discriminating against qualified individuals on the basis of disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a). This prohibition against discrimination can apply to...
Read MoreEmployment: Arbitration – ‘Gateway Issues’
When an arbitration agreement is in effect, who decides whether an employment dispute, or any dispute for that matter, is arbitrable? The Supreme Court recently released a pair of decisions that address this issue under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc.,_ S. Ct._, 202 L. Ed. 2d...
Read MoreEmployment: Age Discrimination – Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Unfair Competition
An employer may proceed with its unfair competition suit asserting contract and tort claims against a former employee and the employee’s current employer, a federal district court sitting in Pennsylvania has held. The employer adequately stated claims of common law breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition against the employee, and of aiding and abetting...
Read MoreEmployment: Age Discrimination – Public Employers
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA” ) applies to all public employers, including those with fewer than 20 employees, a unanimous Supreme Court held in its first merits decision of the October 2018 term. Thus, the 20-employee minimum that applies to private employers does not apply to a state or its subdivisions. The 8-0...
Read MoreContracts: The Importance of Distinguishing a Contracting Party from a Stranger
Although the law generally does not allow a contracting party to bring a tort claim against another party to the same contract, this protection does not extend to persons or entities that are classified as “strangers” to the contract. Thus, a contracting party may maintain a viable claim for tortious interference with contractual relations against...
Read MoreEstates: The Inheritability of Digital Music Files
The average layperson might assume that digital music files (i.e., songs purchased from services such as iTunes and Amazon) can be passed by will or intestate succession. This is certainly true for music recorded onto physical media, such as CDs. However, the law currently treats digital files differently, given (a) the manner in which digital music...
Read MoreLong Term Leave Not a Reasonable Accommodation
On September 20, 2017, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by a district court, holding that the failure to provide an employee with long-term medical leave is not a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The decision, Severson v. Heartland Woodcraft, Inc.,_ F.3d _, 2017 WL 4160849 (7th Cir. Sept....
Read MoreAre Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Employees Protected from Discrimination Under Title VII?
In interpreting the coverage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, appellate courts held that the prohibition against discrimination based on sex does not encompass discrimination based on sexual orientation. E.g., Simonton v. Runyon, 232 F.3d 33 (2d Cir. 2000); Blum v. Gulf Oil Corp., 597 F.2d 936...
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