Keep your organization in compliance with the EEOC’s regulations and avoid being part of the ADA litigation epidemic.
EEOC has recently filed numerous ADA suits against employers, as have private attorneys. The sweeping changes to the ADA in the last ten years have drastically changed the ADA challenges faced by employers. ADA claims are now over 37% of all EEOC charges and at their highest level ever, and 2023 EEOC ADA enforcement netted almost $144.4 million. The focus has shifted from whether an individual has a disability to whether an individual is qualified, whether the employer properly engaged in the interactive process, whether the employer offered a reasonable accommodation to the much larger number of individuals who are considered disabled under the ADA.
Every employer needs to understand how the courts and the EEOC have addressed disability issues since the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA). Learn the appropriate actions to stay in compliance with the new realities of the EEOC’s regulations and targeted enforcement and the rapidly evolving court decisions under the ADAAA and the regulations. In addition, learn how the COVID pandemic “work from home” experience has drastically changed the analysis of employees’ ADA-based telework requests.
Learning Objectives
- You will be able to recognize updated legislation and court cases and their impact to EEOC related cases.
- You will be able to explain the EEOC’s 9 Rules of Construction.
- You will be able to define the meaning and consequences of the regarded as prong of disability.
- You will be able to identify the difference between reasonable accommodations and undue hardship.
Agenda
How the EEOC Regulations Alter the Analysis of Whether an Individual Is Disabled and How the Courts Have Applied the Amended ADA and Regulations and New Telework Issues Post-COVID
Critical Changes to the Definition of Major Life Activities
Whether EEOC’s Regulations Make ADA Coverage Almost Equivalent to That of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Are Even Short-Term Impairments Now Covered Disabilities?
- The Critical Interplay Between Leave as an Accommodation and the FMLA
Dealing With Difficult Medical Conditions, Including Diabetes, Epilepsy, Long COVID, Obesity and Cancer
How to Address Mental Disorders and Intellectual Disabilities Such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia
When Can Employers Invoke the Direct Threat Defense
The Regarded as Disability Definition That Makes It Apply to Many More Individuals and Avoiding New Regarded as Claims
The Critical Role of Job Descriptions Under the ADAAA
Have the EEOC and the Courts Now Held That Cost Is Never a Legitimate Consideration as to the Reasonableness of an Accommodation?
Hot Button Accommodation Issues
- Teleworking - When Is It Required and the Dramatic Change in Analysis Due to COVID Work From Home Experiences
- What Medical Information May an Employer Request and When?
- Reassignment and Reasonable Accommodations
- Are Extended or Open-Ended Leaves Reasonable Accommodations?
- Are Service and/or Emotional Support Animals Reasonable Accommodations?
Speakers
Frank C. Morris, Jr.,
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.- Leads the employment law practice in Washington, D.C., and co-chair of the ADA and Public Accommodations Group for the national law firm of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
- Speaker on the ADA and employment law to the judicial conferences for the federal judges of Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits
- Adjunct professor at the George Washington University Law School
- Named to The Best Lawyers in America and Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers, and Washington, D.C. and Baltimore Top-Rated Lawyers
- Represents and counsels employers and public accommodations nationally in employment, labor, leave, and disability matters
Who Should Attend
This live webinar is designed for human resource managers, benefit administrators, payroll professionals, personnel managers, business owners and managers, CFOs, controllers, and attorneys.
