The year is young, but we already have a strong candidate for the lawsuit of 2013. Above the Law brings us the story of a teacher who claims that her school failed to accommodate her disability—a fear of children.
Above the Law, quoting the Huffington Post, provides the details:
Waltherr-Willard, 61, claims in her lawsuit against the Mariemont school district that for 35 years, she taught Spanish and French to high school students in the system. But when she helped fight the district’s decision to cut French class in favor of an online course, officials retaliated by reassigning her to younger students at a middle school in 2009, ignoring her hypertension, specific phobia and general anxiety disorder, Waltherr-Willard says, according to Cincinnati.com…
Working with younger children at the middle school “adversely affected [Waltherr-Willard's] health, due to her disability,” the lawsuit claims, according to ABC News.
What’s next? Lance Armstrong suing the International Cycling Union for failing to accommodation his fear of winning without PEDs?
Here’s the rest of what I read this week:
Discrimination
- Who are YOU to tell ME that I'm not offended by sexual harassment?!? — from Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook Blog
- Can You Fire the “Temptress”? — from Michael Haberman’s Omega HR Solutions
- EEOC Lawsuits: “Don’t Fire Qualified Employees Based on Fears, Myths or Stereotypes” — from Employment Discrimination Report
- Vegan Hospital Worker’s Flu Vaccination Refusal May Be Protected Religious Belief — from Healthcare Employment Counsel
Social Media & Workplace Technology
- Teacher's Facebook Firing Upheld by N.J. Appellate Court — from Molly DiBianca’s Delaware Employment Law Blog
- Employees Lie, Get Busted on Facebook – But It’s Their Boss That Gets Fired — from Augmented Legality
- Ten of the Biggest Social Marketing Fails of 2012 — from Social Media Strategies Summit Blog
- Discovery of Social Media Accounts Might Be a Toss-up if Requests are Too Broad – Two Conflicting Federal Points of View — from netWORKed Lawyers
- Notre Dame, Manti Te’o, Catfishing, Online Impersonation, and the Law — from Shear on Social Media Law
HR & Employee Relations
- Bereavement Leave in Connecticut — from Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog (with condolences)
- 25 weirdest job interview questions of 2012 — from Evil HR Lady, Suzanne Lucas
- More Vacation Policies to Hate: One Week Off Every Quarter… — from The HR Capitalist, Kris Dunn
- Ignite HR 7: Why You Should Trash Your Policy Manual — from TLNT
- News You Can Use (?) – Flatulence in the Workplace — from Evil Skippy at Work
- Flatulence Warning Withdrawn — from Phil Miles’s Lawffice Space
- Employers Subject to the FCRA Must Use New Forms for Background Checks Effective January 1, 2013 — from Minnesota Employment Law Report
Wage & Hour
- Top Issues for Employers in 2013: Social Media & Independent Contractors — from Employment Matters Blog
- DOL’s Wage and Hour Division Seeks Input on Proposed Worker Classification Survey — from Washington D.C. Employment Law Update
- Unlawful Retaliation Against Nursing Mothers? — from Wage & Hour Defense Institute
- Fifth Circuit Holds Employer’s Mandatory Travel Program Does Not Constitute Compensable Travel Time — from Russell Cawyer’s Texas Employment Law Update
Labor Relations
- NLRB Continues Pro-Union Agenda — from Health Employment and Labor
- Labor and Human Relations Professionals Face More Challenges In Light of Recent NLRB Decisions — from Labor Relations Today