Shira M. Blank

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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently published updated guidance titled, “Hearing Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act” (the Guidance), explaining how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to job applicants and employees with hearing disabilities.  The Guidance provides several new and updated examples regarding medical information employers may request and use, and reasonable accommodations for hearing disabilities that reflect technological and medical advancements since the EEOC issued its initial guidance in 2014.…

Continue Reading Updated EEOC Guidance Highlights ADA’s Impact on Employees with Hearing Disabilities

On August 16, 2022, in Williams v. Kincaid, the Fourth Circuit held that gender dysphoria can qualify as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (the “ADA”).  This is the first federal appellate decision which extends the ADA’s protections to transgender people experiencing gender dysphoria and it will have a significant impact on all entities covered by the ADA, including employers (covered by Title I of the ADA), and public accommodations (covered by Title III of the ADA). Prior to this holding, several of the district courts have come down both ways on the issue.
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Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Holds the Americans with Disabilities Act Covers Gender Dysphoria

As featured in #WorkforceWednesday:  This week, we focus on the uptick in requests for remote work as a reasonable accommodation during COVID-19 and what employers should consider when addressing them.

Remote Work and Reasonable Accommodations

A recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) disability discrimination lawsuit shows the agency is closely watching and is interested…

Last week, in Winegard v. Newsday LLC, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a decision that may finally tee up the issue of website accessibility to be directly addressed by the Second Circuit and provided businesses without a brick and mortar presence with unexpected relief by dismissing a…

After keeping us waiting with baited breath for several years, the Eleventh Circuit finally broke its silence – issuing its long-anticipated ruling in Gil v. Winn-Dixie Stores, holding that websites are not covered as places of public accommodation under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“Title III” or “ADA”).  In doing so,…

As summer kicks into high gear, and the Americans with Disabilities Act’s 30th anniversary looms large at the end of this month, businesses in many jurisdictions are in the process of gradually reopening to the public.

And if the long and difficult spring wasn’t trying enough, businesses now face yet another challenge — balancing maintaining…

For businesses growing weary of the seemingly perpetual wave of serial ADA claims (e.g., website accessibility; gift card accessibility), thanks to recent a decision issued by a federal judge in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York (“EDNY”), some may believe that “Christmas came early.”  Last week, EBG achieved…

While the seemingly endless wave of website accessibility cases filed by serial plaintiffs shows no signs of abating (a situation not helped by the United States’ Supreme Court’s denial of Domino’s Petition for Certiorari last month), those who follow accessibility law and the businesses who have been deeply affected by the relentless barrage of serial…

Launched more than a decade ago, the #MeToo movement made its way into the national (and international) conversation in 2017, and, by 2018, the movement had such momentum that it spurred a cornucopia of new state laws.  One of these new laws, which became effective July 11, 2018, is a New York State statute that…

While businesses have long grown weary of the plaintiff bar’s seemingly endless stream of website accessibility lawsuits, it appears that judges in the SDNY may be increasingly feeling the same way. For the second time this spring, following on the back of the decision in Mendez v. Apple, a judge in the SDNY, in…