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• EEOC Issues New Disability Guidance Regarding Cancer ( September 2005 )
  Sherry L. Travers of Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, LLP

  The EEOC has, as part of its on-line Question and Answer Series, recently issued guidance regarding whether cancer is a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"). The ADA is a federal law that prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against individuals with actual or perceived disabilities.

• Personality Testing: Do Your Pre-Employment Tests Violate the ADA? ( September 2005 )
  Ryan  Griffitts of Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, LLP

  In June, an Illinois federal court of appeals issued a decision that may have a drastic impact on the use of "personality tests" in the employment setting.

• Disability Discrimination: Pushing the Limits ( March 2004 )
  Ellen C. Meyer of Goulston & Storrs

  A recent study published by the American Bar Association reports that nearly 95% of lawsuits filed under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and nearly 80% of administrative claims of disability discrimination are ultimately decided in favor of the defendant. However, at the same time, employers and their HR departments are confronted with more and more bizarre tales of liability under the disability laws.

• Supreme Court Side-Steps Ruling in Refusal to Rehire Rehabilitated Drug Abuser Case ( March 2004 )
  Elizabeth M. Marsh of Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, LLP

  On December 2, 2003, the Supreme Court of the United States issued an opinion in <em>Raytheon Company v. Hernandez</em>. The case arose under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and centered around an employer's unwritten policy of refusing to rehire former employees whose employment had been terminated for misconduct.

• Employment: Americans With Disability Act Supreme Court Confirms: There's More to Life Than Work ( March 2002 )
  Mark P. Albright of White and Williams LLP

  In a decision likely to have a significant impact on assessment of future ADA claims, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that for a worker to be deemed "substantially limited" in performing manual tasks, that person must have a permanent or long-term impairment "that prevents or severely restricts the individual from doing activities that are of central importance to most people's daily lives."

• U.S. Supreme Court Narrows ADA Protection--Inability to Perform Work Tasks Alone is Not a Disability Under the Americans With Disabilities Act ( January 2002 )
  Tiffany C. Miller of Arter & Hadden LLP

  A recent decision by the United States Supreme Court narrows the reach of the Americans with Disabilities Act and could be a victory for some employers faced with ADA discrimination claims.

• Genetics Testing of Employees Ends After EEOC Files Lawsuit ( June 2001 )
  W. Mark Gavre of Parsons Behle & Latimer

  Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad recently settled a lawsuit brought by the EEOC over the company's genetic testing of certain employees. The railroad required employees who made workers' compensation claims for carpel tunnel syndrome to submit to genetic testing. The company was interested in whether the employees had a genetic propensity for the condition, which might indicate that their injuries were not work-related.

• Defamation Claims By Fired Employees ( August 2000 )
  Nicholas J. Pappas, Jeffrey S. Klein and Celia A. Cohen of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

  In this article, the author reviews two federal decisions that ruled in favor of the plaintiff that raised a cause of action in his or her complaint against a former employer.

• Combating Abuse Of The Declaratory Judgment Action By Insurers ( August 2000 )
  Ronald Arthur Lowry of Law Offices of Ronald Arthur Lowry

  It has become fashionable in recent years for insurers to sue their own insureds in a declaratory judgment action .