Last week, we had a two-part series on the interplay between the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The former clearly obligates employers to afford leave to an eligible employee to care for a sick child. But, what about the latter? That is, must an employer provide leave from work as a reasonable accommodation to an employee to permit her to care for a disabled child? In a case decided earlier this month (Magnus v. St. Mark United Methodist Church), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that the ADA does not require employers to  [ Read More ]

In high value Personal Injury claims, Defendants solicitors sometimes instruct private investigators to film the Claimant. The potential benefit to the Defendant is that the video evidence may show that the Claimant has been exaggerating or malingering the extent of their injuries, resulting in the Defendant paying out less in compensation. What are the main uses of surveillance evidence? • To attack the Claimants credibility by demonstrating that there level of disability is different from that in their witness statement. • To demonstrate that the Claimant has made a better recovery from their physical injuries and is not as disabled  [ Read More ]

Posted by Jay S. Becker There has been a lot of discussion lately regarding an employer’s right to know as much as possible about an applicant, as opposed to that applicant’s right to privacy. Should an employer be limited by what is contained on an applicant’s self-serving resume or application, and/or what the applicant decides to share during an interview, or should an employer have a right to learn more about the applicant, by demanding the applicant’s password to his/her social media sites? When does an employer’s right to know versus an applicant’s right to privacy begin and end? If  [ Read More ]

Originally Posted on : U.S. News by MSNBC.com By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com When Sawyer Rosenstein was 12, a punch from a bully changed his life forever, leaving him paralyzed, and at times, near death from the complications of his condition. Now, six years after the assault, the New Jersey school board in the district where he was a student has agreed to a $4.2 million settlement. “It feels really great to finally have just a sense of closure … that this really difficult part of my life is behind me,” Rosenstein, an 18-year-old freshman majoring in communication at Syracuse University,  [ Read More ]

December 15, 2011 Edition Howell woman honored as mother of the year BY JAMES McEVOY Staff Writer Joy Walk HOWELL— When ElizabethWalk was born, her parents Joy and Todd were ready for the typical challenges of parenthood. Then, a few years later, came a doctor’s diagnosis that Elizabeth, now 8, was autistic. “It wasn’t the plan we laid out. We’ve been together 21 years,” said Joy Walk, of Howell. “Back when we were teenagers talking about our future, this definitely was not it, but in some ways it’s better.” Walk, an administrative assistant with the Woodbridge office of the Financial  [ Read More ]

Under the Social Security Act, disability is defined as the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity due to any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can result in death or which has lasted or can last for a continuous period not less than 1 year. Williams v. Bowen, 1987 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7370 (E.D. Va. July 30, 1987) If you believe that you are being discriminated against at work because of a disability or perceived disability, you should be aware that laws exist to protect you from unlawful disability discrimination and perceived disability discrimination. The attorneys at  [ Read More ]