EEOC to Extend Existing Record-Keeping Requirements to GINA-Covered Entities

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is publishing a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in the Federal Register tomorrow (June 2, 2011) to extend the record-keeping requirements of the Civil Rights Act of 1967 and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 to entitles covered by Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination [...]

Read the rest of this entry »
GoTo top Top

Final ADAAA Regulations from EEOC Take Effect Tomorrow (May 24, 2011)

Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of a  disability and requires employers to accommodate a qualified individual’s physical or mental impairment in the workplace, unless such accommodation causes an undue hardship. All employers with 15 or more employees are subject to the ADA as enforced by [...]

Read the rest of this entry »
GoTo top Top

EEOC Restricts Release of Employee Medical Information to Courts

Both the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1974 contain privacy protection for employees and their company-retained medical records, but a narrow exception in these acts allows for the release of such information if requested by a court order. However, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a recent [...]

Read the rest of this entry »
GoTo top Top

EEOC Seeks to Bundle Discrimination Claims as ‘Class Charges’

In an approach similar to class-action lawsuits, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is now pursuing what it calls Class Charges—disability and age discrimination claims that deal with multiple employees in one location or spread out geographically. The institution of a Class Charge is simple enough: When employees file claims for disability or age discrimination [...]

Read the rest of this entry »
GoTo top Top

SCOTUS to Take Up Wal-Mart Discrimination Case March 29

The United States Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments in the long-simmering Wal-Mart sex discrimination lawsuit tomorrow morning (March 29, 2011). The nine justices will weigh whether the class action certification in the case of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. v. Dukes is justified under federal rules. Wal-Mart is arguing that monetary relief, as opposed to injunctive [...]

Read the rest of this entry »
GoTo top Top

EEOC to Publish Final Rule on ADAAA on March 25

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced that it will publish its Final Rule implementing the ADA Amendments Act in the Federal Register tomorrow (March 25, 2011). The regulations recently cleared review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and have been praised by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as reflecting "a [...]

Read the rest of this entry »
GoTo top Top

SCOTUS Rules Oral Complaints as Valid as Written Ones

The U.S. Supreme Court today (March 22, 2011) overturned the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that, to be valid, complaints under the anti-retaliation provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must be in writing. In Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, the justices rejected what they termed a "narrow interpretation" of language in the [...]

Read the rest of this entry »
GoTo top Top

OMB Approves ADAAA Final Regulations, Publication Next

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) reportedly has approved the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) proposed final regulations for the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA). The EEOC, if this is the case, is free to publish the final regulations in the Federal Register and begin enforcing their provisions after a stated period of time. The [...]

Read the rest of this entry »
GoTo top Top

EEOC Recovers Record Amount of Claims Against Employers

In addition to reporting a record number of discrimination charges during the last fiscal year (nearly 100,000), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) secured more than $400 million in monetary benefits from employers–the highest level of monetary relief ever obtained by the EEOC through its combined enforcement, mediation and litigation programs.    In order [...]

Read the rest of this entry »
GoTo top Top

ADA Design Standards to Change on March 15

The U.S. Department of Justice's amended Final Rule concerning the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) takes effect tomorrow, March 15, 2011, replacing the 1991 act's Standards for Accessible Design with a more vigorous 2010 set of standards. The 2010 Standards for Accessible Design provide new specifications for a wide range of architectural access features, including [...]

Read the rest of this entry »
GoTo top Top