The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this week certified a question to the Washington Supreme Court, seeking that court’s help in defining "disability" under the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD).
Two years ago, in McClarty v. Totem Electric, 137 P.3d 844 (2006), the Washington Supreme Court significantly narrowed the definition of "disability" under
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Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate both passed laws that will require employee health plans to offer the same benefits for mental illness as they do for other medical conditions.
The House approved H.R. 6983 by a 376-47 vote, and the Senate passed another version, H.R. 6049 (a tax and energy bill
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The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries recently announced that Oregon’s minimum wage will increase from the current $7.95 an hour to $8.40 an hour effective January 1, 2009. For Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian’s press release, click here.
As a result of Ballot Measure 25, passed by voters in 2002, the minimum wage
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The ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) will become law on January 1, 2009, substantially expanding the Americans with Disabilities Act, and increasing employers’ obligations to accommodate disabled employees. To help you get ready to comply with this important new law, Stoel Rives is offering free ADAAA seminars in its Seattle, Portland and Boise offices on December 2, 2008. To
Earlier this week, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an employer does not violate the National Labor Relations Act by refusing to reinstate economic strikers because it had hired permanent replacements, even though those "permanent" workers are at-will employees. The decision in United Steelworkers v. NLRB upheld an earlier National Labor Relations Board ruling
This week the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) is not preempted by the federal (IRCA). Rather, the court held, LAWA falls within the scope of the “savings clause” of IRCA’s express preemption provision as a “licensing law” and is therefore enforceable. A coalition of human rights and
The White House yesterday confirmed that President Bush will sign the ADA Amendments Act ("ADAAA") into law. The White House issued the following statement, which can be accessed here:
"The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is instrumental in allowing individuals with disabilities to fully participate in our economy and society, and the Administration
The ADA Amendments Act ("ADAAA") was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier today. For more information, read the House’s Press Release. As reported previously by the Stoel Rives World of Employment, the same version of the bill was recently approved by the U.S. Senate.
The next stop for the ADAAA is the White House.
According to a recent Americans with Disabilities Act case from the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, a failure to accommodate an employee’s disability may result in a constructive discharge and expose the employer to the same kind of liability it would face had it terminated an employee because of a disability.
In Talley
The touchstone in any litigation regarding termination is fairness. A jury will look to see if the employee was treated fairly given the circumstances, or if the employer acted in an arbitrary and unfair manner. An employer should always ask, "Is this termination fair to the company? To the employee? To our customers? To our