To Dr. Clover (Final Group Project)

The other 2 contributions are:

The Americans Disability Act is simply focused on individuals/ employees with disabilities, rather It’s the person or their family member, or spouse. This is in place protect the employee and to cover their position with their company. In most jobs it is specified in their handbook of whose covered and the proper procedures, and like some there are employee who try to do what they want and think that they can get by without following these procedures. For instance, in the case of, Whitaker v. Wisconsin Dept of health Servs., No. 16-1807, 2017 L 745600 (7th Cir. Feb. 27, 2017). Whitaker was an employee with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, she decided to take off work and be a caregiver for her sickly father. In addition, she had experienced a back injury which she had to be moved to a position where are duties were minimized. She started off as a Corrections Officer but due to her back injury, she went into an office position where she was answering phones, and general case management work where they still ask that she report to work every day. The company accommodated her as needed to keep her employed. However, she exhausted her FMLA leave which was pertaining to her back injury and used up her 30 unpaid leave to care for her father. Ms. Whitaker failed to go by the proper procedure in submitting documentation from her doctor and reporting back to work after the 30 days was up. This was told to her upon taking this leave. Later Ms. Whitaker decided she wanted to take the company to court pursuing a lawsuit. The company asked for documentation to cover the days missed and show proof of her needing the extended time off. Sure, she provided notes from the doctor’s offices but nothing that said, “she couldn’t work.” The company had done all they could to assist Whitaker but with no proof, she was putting the department in the company in a tough spot. The ending result showed that Whitaker had no documentation which was needed to cover the time she had missed, and she was terminated from the company.

Though she would’ve thought this was a discrimination against her or her father’s disabilities or illnesses, it wasn’t. Everyone working with this company is asked to do the same in order to same their job. In order for one to fall under the ADA or American Disability Act they must show proof of the disability an assessment must be done in this case. There is a process and accommodations will be set in turn.

Another case that was brought to the courts is Alston v. Park Pleasant. Inc. No. 16-1464,2017 WL 627381 (3d Cir, Feb. 15, 2017) Alston was hired on at the Park Pleasant Nursing Facility as the Director. It then appeared that her performance was lacking, and she wasn’t putting in the effort as hired to do so. After being informed of her performance, Alston took some time off work to have a biopsy done. It was not said that she couldn’t have this done, it was a procedure that was missed in doing so. Alston later found out that she had some form of (breast cancer) and returned to work. Her performance continued to lack so the company decided to lay her off. Alston explained to the company of what was going on but failed to provide evidence of her disability. Though she was diagnosed, it didn’t not state that she couldn’t perform the duties.

Alston felt the company was showing signs of discrimination by calling her in the office and pointing out her performance and later, terminating her. There are procedures in place when one pulls the “disability” card, if an employee takes the necessary steps and is given the assessment, if that assessment states that they are capable of performing that job and dong their duties as hired to do, then they must do so or the company will have to do what they have to.

All companies must make sure that employees are aware of their duties, evaluations are in place for a reason. Companies must keep accurate documentation to cover them in cases of litigations being made. It is important that communication is often, and everyone is on accord, this will prevent new cases in the future.

References

The REED Group. “Top 3 notable ADA cases in 2017” so far. March 13, 2017. The Compliance Team. Website. https://reedgroup.com/2017/03/13/top-3-notable-ada-cases-2017-far/

I agree, the paper is very good, I added a paragraph to get the original verification down as well. If you guys want we could keep it or dispose of it but I do believe it’s a nice addition.

are deemed to be within the law.

In addition to reasonable accommodation in places of employment, the ADA also requires that readily achievable accommodations must be in place in establishments that deals with clients or guest. These accommodations include but are not limited to renter’s property, places of exercise, and places of recreation. Moreover, this works with the Architectural Barriers Act which provides a standard of accessible designs for disabled personnel i.e. with wheelchairs. With the ADA and its counterparts providing equality for the disabled, we have come a long way from what began as the Civil Rights Act.