Tag Archive for: disability

Colorado employers, brace for 2023 state legislative developments

The Colorado state legislature enacted a crop of new laws affecting employers in 2023, including the following:

  • The POWR Act (Protecting Opportunities and Workers’ Rights Act)
  • Revisions to existing job/promotional opportunity posting and disclosure requirements
  • Expansion of reasons for taking HFWA/paid sick leave
  • Age-related questions in job applications
  • Penalties related to wrongful refusals to allow use of service animals by disabled individuals
  • State actions to recover reimbursement of overdue wage payments
  • Expansion of military leave.

The remainder of this blog post summarizes some of the features of these new developments.

  • POWR Act (Protecting Opportunities and Workers’ Rights Act) will take effect August 7, 2023: The Colorado legislature summarized this wide-ranging law, as follows:
  • Directs the Colorado civil rights division (division) to include “harassment” as a basis or description of discrimination on any charge form or charge intake mechanism;
  • Adds a new definition of “harass” or “harassment” and repeals the current definition of “harass” that requires creation of a hostile work environment;
  • Adds protections from discriminatory or unfair employment practices for individuals based on their “marital status”;
  • Specifies that in harassment claims, the alleged conduct need not be severe or pervasive to constitute a discriminatory or unfair employment practice;
  • For purposes of the exception to otherwise discriminatory practices for an employer that is unable to accommodate an individual with a disability who is otherwise qualified for the job, eliminates the ability for the employer to assert that the individual’s disability has a significant impact on the job as a rationale for the employment practice;
  • Specifies the requirements for an employer to assert an affirmative defense to an employee’s proven claim of unlawful harassment by a supervisor; and
  • Specifies the requirements that must be satisfied for a nondisclosure provision in an agreement between an employer and an employee or a prospective employee to be enforceable; and
  • Requires an employer to maintain personnel and employment records for at least 5 years and, with regard to complaints of discriminatory or unfair employment practices, to maintain those records in a designated repository.

When reviewing the legislature’s summary of its new POWR Act, Colorado employers may wish to note the following fleshouts on some of those points:

  • In revising the definition of prohibited “harassment,” the legislature has deleted the longstanding threshold requirement that harassment be “severe or pervasive.” In doing so the legislature noted that some threshold still needed to be met, in that “petty slights, minor annoyances, and lack of good manners” will generally not suffice. Future litigation will need to analyze how this new standard requiring more than “petty slights, minor annoyance, and lack of good manners” is different than the longstanding “severe or pervasive” standard. Further complicating future litigation will be the legislature’s observation in the POWR Act that this new standard will, like the prior standard, require an analysis of “the totality of the circumstances.”
  • Additionally, in revising the definition of “harassment,” the legislature has revised the longstanding Ellerth-Faragher defense, in cases of prohibited harassment by supervisors, for employers who train against and take prompt and effective remedial steps to eliminate prohibited harassment. Now, Colorado law will require an employer, when sued for sexual harassment by a supervisor, in order to qualify for this affirmative defense, to prove that they had a “program” in place that is “reasonably designed” to “prevent” unlawful harassment and to “deter” unlawful harassment and to protect” employees from unlawful harassment, additionally, that they actually do take “prompt, reasonable action to investigate or address” complaints and incidents, and further that they actually do take “prompt, reasonable remedial actions, when warranted,” and also that they have “communicated the existence and details of the program.”
  • Marital status itself will be a protected class.
    • The POWR Act does not define whether “marital status” means the status of being married, or whether it would include the status of being not married, being in a partnership relationship, being in a dating relationship, etc.
  • The changes that apply to a “nondisclosure provision” are multi-faceted and warrant immediate review of any agreement that includes confidentiality language, whether an employment agreement, an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), a non-compete or non-solicit, etc., if “entered into or renewed on or after” August 7, 2023.
    • While employers will still be able to require confidentiality language that protects trade secrets, any “nondisclosure provision” will be void if it goes farther than that and “limits the ability of the employee or prospective employee to disclose, either orally or in writing, any alleged discriminatory or unfair employment practice.”
    • The legislature provided one exception for “nondisclosure provisions” that:
      • Applies “equally to all parties to the agreement,” apparently in other words, meaning confidentiality may be required if there is mutuality as to “all parties to the agreement,”
      • Expressly states
        • that it does not restrain the employee or prospective employee from disclosing
          • the underlying facts of any alleged discriminatory or unfair employment practice,” apparently, to anyone,
          • “the existence and terms of a settlement agreement” to
            • “the employee’s or prospective employee’s immediate family members, religious advisor, medical or mental health provider, mental or behavioral health therapeutic support group, legal counsel, financial advisor, or tax preparer,”
            • “any local, state, or federal government agency for any reason, including disclosing the existence and terms of a settlement agreement, without first notifying the employer,”
            • anyone “in response to legal process, such as a subpoena to testify at a deposition or in a court, including disclosing the existence and terms of a settlement agreement, without first notifying the employer,” or
            • anyone “for all other purposes as required by law,”
        • that, as for agreements that also contain a nondisparagement provision,
          • “disclosure of the underlying facts of any alleged discriminator or unfair employment practice within the parameters specified (above) does not constitute disparagement,”
          • if “the employer disparages the employee or prospective employee to a third party, the employer may not seek to enforce the nondisparagement or nondisclosure provisions of the agreement or seek damages against the employee or any other party to the agreement for violating those provisions, but all other remaining terms of the agreement remain enforceable,”
      • As for agreements that also contain a liquidated damages provision, the liquidated damages provision’s amount must be
        • “reasonable and proportionate in light of the anticipated actual economic loss that a breach of the agreement would cause,”
        • “varied based on the nature or severity of the breach,” and
        • not “punitive,”
      • Additionally, an “addendum” to the agreement must
        • be signed by all parties to the agreement
        • wherein each party must “attest to compliance with” new Colorado Revised Statute section 24-34-407(1)(a) (summarized above).
    • Not only does the failure to comply with this new law invalidate the non-disclosure (and non-disparagement) language (and related language like any related liquidated damages clause), but merely providing it to an employee or prospective employee also subjects an employer to claims by the employee, prospective employee, as well as the CDLE for damages, costs, attorney fees, penalties including a $5,000 penalty, which penalty may be reduced including to $0.00 if the employer proves “good faith.”
  • The “repository” of complaints that will now be required to be maintained for at least 5 years must contain all written and oral complaints, the identity of each complainant (if known, in other words, if not anonymous), the identity of the alleged wrongdoer, and the substance of the complaint.
    • This repository must be kept separate from personnel records.
    • This repository is not open to public inspection.
    • However, employers should anticipate that all federal, state and local EEO agencies will demand to see it (as will litigants through discovery), though it is not clear if it must be made available to any agency other than the CDLE.

 

  • Job/Promotional Posting Requirements: The Colorado legislature also amended its relatively recent job opening and promotional opportunity posting requirements, including, effective January 1, 2024:
    • As for “job opportunity” postings, employers have been required to post pay ranges, including benefits, now they will be required to post, in addition, the anticipated window when applications  will close.
      • A “job opportunity” is defined to be “a current or anticipated vacancy for which the employer is considering a candidate or candidates or interviewing a candidate or candidates or that the employer externally posts.”
      • A “vacancy” is defined to be “an open position, whether as a result of a newly created position or a vacated position.”
      • After filling a job opportunity, employers must disclose the following,
        • The name of the individual selected,
        • Their new job title,
          • And, if they were an internal hire, their former job title,
        • Information on how to apply for similar positions in the future.
        • Such notice must be given at least to the employees with whom that individual will work regularly
        • Such notice is not required if it would violate the selected individual’s privacy rights, health or safety.
    • No notice will be required for “career progressions,” which phrase is defined as
      • “a regular or automatic movement from one position to another,”
      • which is “based on time in a specific role or other objective metrics,”
      • so long as the employer has already disclosed to “all eligible employees the requirements for career progression, in addition to each position’s terms or compensation, benefits, full-time or part-time status, duties, and access to further advancement.”
    • Out-of-state employers will be partially and temporarily exempted from job posting requirements until July 1, 2029, so long as the company
      • has no physical location in Colorado,
      • has fewer than 15 workers in Colorado,
        • “all of whom work only remotely,”
      • and posts any “remote job opportunities.”

 

  • HFWA/paid sick leave: In addition to existing HFWA paid sick leave requirements, Colorado workers will, effective August 7, 2023, be able to take HFWA paid sick leave for the following additional reasons:
    • grieving, funerals and memorials, financial and legal matters after the death of a family member,
    • caring for a family member whose school or place of care has been closed due to inclement weather, loss of power, heat, water, or other unexpected events,
    • evacuations of the worker’s residence due to inclement weather, loss of power, heat, etc.

 

  • Job applications: Effective July 1, 2024, job applications in Colorado may not include questions related to age, date of birth, dates of attendance at education programs or graduation from them, unless required by federal, state or local law. (For readers who may have seen discussion of this new law, SB 23-058, in other resources, it has been colloquially referred to as the “Don’t Ask Applicants’ Age” law).

 

  • Penalties related to service animals: HB 23-1032 revised the remedies for refusing to allow use of a service animal by disabled individuals to now include actual damages or a fine of $3,500 per violation.

 

  • State actions to recover reimbursement of overdue wage payments: SB 23-231 allows the CDLE, through a t0-be-established wage theft enforcement fund, to pay employees overdue wages, if overdue by at least six months, then recover reimbursement from employers.

 

  • Military leave: HB 23-1045 allows Colorado workers in the Colorado National Guard or U.S. reserves to take up to three workweeks (instead of Colorado law’s prior 15 days) of military leave for military training and, at their discretion, to take, as they do, available paid leave.

Eleventh Circuit creates circuit split in failure-to-accommodate cases, inviting Supreme Court review

In Beasley v. O’Reilly Auto Parts, the Eleventh Circuit rejected the argument that failing to accommodate a disabled employee under the Americans with Disabilities Act is itself actionable. The court held that a plaintiff must also prove that he suffered an adverse employment action affecting the terms, conditions or privileges of employment, such as discharge, discipline, demotion, cut in pay, etc.

The Eleventh Circuit’s decision is opposite to the Tenth Circuit’s decision in Exby-Stolly, which was itself a split decision. Therefore, it creates a circuit split that now invites review by the Supreme Court.

Federal government issues guidances regarding the use of AI, software and algorithms in employment

The federal government issued multiple guidances regarding the use of AI, software and algorithms in employment including hiring, accommodation decisions and medical or other private inquiries. See for example \recent guidances by the EEOC, White House, and DOJ.

The White House summarized its goals for an AI Bill of Rights in employment, as follows:

You should not face discrimination by algorithms and systems should be used and designed in an equitable way. Algorithmic discrimination occurs when automated systems contribute to unjustified different treatment or impacts disfavoring people based on their race, color, ethnicity, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, gender identity, intersex status, and sexual orientation), religion, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other classification protected by law. Depending on the specific circumstances, such algorithmic discrimination may violate legal protections. Designers, developers, and deployers of automated systems should take proactive and continuous measures to protect individuals and communities from algorithmic discrimination and to use and design systems in an equitable way. This protection should include proactive equity assessments as part of the system design, use of representative data and protection against proxies for demographic features, ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities in design and development, pre-deployment and ongoing disparity testing and mitigation, and clear organizational oversight. Independent evaluation and plain language reporting in the form of an algorithmic impact assessment, including disparity testing results and mitigation information, should be performed and made public whenever possible to confirm these protections.

The White House’s goal for an AI Bill of Rights includes components regarding data privacy, notices and consent.

The EEOC gives several examples of ways that “an employer’s use of algorithmic decision-making tools could violate.”

  • The employer does not provide a “reasonable accommodation” that is necessary for a job applicant or employee to be rated fairly and accurately by the algorithm.

  • The employer relies on an algorithmic decision-making tool that intentionally or unintentionally “screens out” an individual with a disability, even though that individual is able to do the job with a reasonable accommodation. “Screen out” occurs when a disability prevents a job applicant or employee from meeting—or lowers their performance on—a selection criterion, and the applicant or employee loses a job opportunity as a result. A disability could have this effect by, for example, reducing the accuracy of the assessment, creating special circumstances that have not been taken into account, or preventing the individual from participating in the assessment altogether.

  • The employer adopts an algorithmic decision-making tool for use with its job applicants or employees that violates the ADA’s restrictions on disability-related inquiries and medical examinations.

 

Third Circuit holds that an employer’s decision to conduct an investigation can be used as evidence of pretext even if the investigation produces credible evidence of a violation warranting discharge

In Canada v. Samuel Grossi & Sons, Inc., Third Circuit held that an employer’s decision to conduct an investigation can be used as evidence of pretext even if the investigation later produces credible evidence of a violation warranting discharge. In the case, the company asserted that it had terminated an employee after a search of his phone confirmed he’d been soliciting sex workers during working hours. The employee asserted that the company had looked at his phone only in retaliation when he requested FMLA; he also asserted other claims including FMLA interference, disability-related claims and racial discrimination.

For the reasons we have already explained, we reject a rule that incentivizes employers to dig up reasons to fire an employee who has engaged in protected activity, and then immunizes them from suit based upon a subsequent fortuitous discovery of grounds for termination.

Here, as in Hobgood, there is a “ ‘convincing mosaic’ of circumstantial evidence,”63 which, when taken as a whole and viewed in a light favorable to Canada’s case, could convince a reasonable jury that he was the victim of unlawful retaliation.64 In other words, the evidence could support a finding that the search itself was retaliatory.

EEOC cautions some cases of COVID-19 may cause a disability protected by law

While most cases of COVID-19 resolve without complication, the EEOC cautions in a new Section “N” added to its on-going COVID-19 guidance, that some cases may be more severe and cause a “disability” that is protected by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).

The EEOC advises that anyone who experiences only no symptoms or mild symptoms, including symptoms comparable to a cold or flu, will not be considered “disabled.” Rather that person will have suffered a “transitory and minor” illness that is not a “disability.”

However, a person may experience a protected “disability” if they suffer “ongoing but intermittent” symptoms that “substantially limit” major life activities like “neurological and brain function, concentrating, and/or thinking,” or if they receive supplemental oxygen for breathing difficulties, or if they suffer “heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath, and related effects to to the virus that last, or are expected to last, for several months and that “substantially limit” major life activities such as “cardiovascular function and circulatory function.” Likewise “intestinal pain, vomiting, and nausea” that lasts “for many months, even if intermittently” may constitute a “disability” if it substantially limits major life activities. (See. Section N.4). The EEOC explains its guidance is intended to confirm that at least some cases of so-called “long COVID” (more commonly called long-haul COVID) can constitute a “disability.”  Likewise even if the person does not experience long-haul COVID, they may nonetheless suffer a protected “disability” if the COVID-19 triggers a different condition (such as diabetes) that is itself a protected disability.

The EEOC cautions that employees may also be protected if “regarded as” so disabled even if they do not have an actual disability of this type, for example, if their employer fires them because it believes their symptoms will continue along such lines. See Section N. 7.  And the EEOC cautions they may also be protected if the company has a “record of” them having such a condition even if they do not actually have such a condition and are not “regard as” having such a condition.

White House announces extension of deadline for government contractors to implement vaccine mandate

When it announced the release of OSHA’s ETS implementing the President’s vaccine mandate for employers of 100 or more, the White House announced the deadline for government contractors to mandate that employees would need to be vaccinated would be extended from December 8, 2021 to January 18, 2022. Note: That will the deadline for employees to be “fully vaccinated,” meaning the deadline to actually receive their full-final vaccine injection will be 14 days earlier January 4, 2022.

Because the extension of this deadline was implemented by way of an announcement from the White House, not through OSHA’s ETS itself, the Fifth Circuit’s freezing of the ETS would not seem to affect this extension.

However, it is noted that the Federal Safer Work Place Task Force has yet to update its own documentation to reflect this new extension, and it was announced only in that relatively informal announcement from the White House; therefore, it is arguably possible that the White House may, especially after the ETS was frozen, wish to pull back on this delay. Employers should stay tuned to developments at the federal level.

OSHA’s vaccine mandate rules

On 11/5/2021, OSHA issued its ETS (Emergency Temporary Standard) implementing President Biden’s vaccine mandate for employers of 100 or more. (OSHA published a separate ETS for healthcare settings, not addressed in this alert.)

OSHA’s information page regarding the new ETS is here. It includes a 28-minute webinar by OSHA, a FAQ sheet by OSHA, a fact sheet by OSHA, a general summary by OSHA, as well as a summary by OSHA of the reporting requirements.

Effective Date, Compliance Dates, Litigation

The ETS was effective as a statement of federal law immediately on its publication 11/5/2021. General compliance is required by 12/5/2021, to include the policy requirements, mask mandate, recordkeeping and reporting. The sole exception is that mandating vaccines/tests in lieu of vaccination will be required no later than 1/4/2022. Someone who receives their full-final injection on or after 12/21/2021 will not have to be tested in the 2 weeks thereafter as they wait to become fully vaccinated.

OSHA expects the ETS will remain in effect for 6 months after 11/5/2021, though OSHA cautions it may shorten or extend the ETS’ duration.

Because the ETS’ effective date as law was immediate on its publication 11/5/2021, litigation over it commenced almost immediately that same day. At the time of this posting, more than half of the states have filed a variety of lawsuits seeking to invalidate the ETS. Unless a court rules otherwise, though, employers should continue to work towards compliance.

Coverage

When considering coverage, the ETS reaches only some employers, and at those employers, only some employees.

Covered Employers

Employers of 100 or more “at any time the (ETS) standard is in effect” are covered by this ETS. The 100 is counted company-wide, not by location. When counting the 100, all employees are covered, whether full-time or part-time. Employees are counted by the head not FTE; in other words, two part-time employees each working half-time (20 hours per week) do not count as 1 even though together they constitute 1 FTE, rather they count as 2. True independent contractors do not count towards the 100, unless the company is a joint employer. In its preface to the ETS, OSHA offers the following examples (quoting list by OSHA):

  • If an employer has 75 part-time employees and 25 full-time employees, the employer would be within the scope of this ETS because it has 100 employees.
  • If an employer has 150 employees, 100 of whom work from their homes full-time and 50 of whom work in the office at least part of the time, the employer would be within the scope of this ETS because it has more than 100 employees.
  • If an employer has 102 employees and only 3 ever report to an office location, that employer would be covered.
  • If an employer has 150 employees, and 100 of them perform maintenance work in customers’ homes, primarily working from their company vehicles (i.e., mobile workplaces), and rarely or never report to the main office, that employer would also fall within the scope.
  • If an employer has 200 employees, all of whom are vaccinated, that employer would be covered.
  • If an employer has 125 employees, and 115 of them work exclusively outdoors, that employer would be covered.
  • If a single corporation has 50 small locations (e.g., kiosks, concession stands) with at least 100 total employees in its combined locations, that employer would be covered even if some of the locations have no more than one or two employees assigned to work there.
  • If a host employer has 80 permanent employees and 30 temporary employees supplied by a staffing agency, the host employer would not count the staffing  agency employees for coverage purposes and therefore would not be covered. (So long as the staffing agency has at least 100 employees, however, the staffing agency would be responsible for ensuring compliance with the ETS for the jointly employed workers.)
  • If a host employer has 110 permanent employees and 10 temporary employees from a small staffing agency (with fewer than 100 employees of its own), the host employer is covered under this ETS and the staffing agency is not.
  • If a host employer has 110 permanent employees and 10 employees from a large staffing agency (with more than 100 employees of its own), both the host employer and the staffing agency are covered under this standard, and traditional joint employer principles apply.
  • Generally, in a traditional franchisor-franchisee relationship, if the franchisor has more than 100 employees but each individual franchisee has fewer than 100 employees, the franchisor would be covered by this ETS but the individual franchises would not be covered.

Covered Employees

All employees of a covered employer are covered by the ETS, except:

  • Employees working in workplaces covered by President Biden’s Government Contractor mandate. Such employees will be protected exclusively by the Government Contractor mandate.
  • Employees working in healthcare settings covered by OSHA’s Healthcare ETS.
  • Employees who do not report to a workplace where others are present.
  • Employees who work from home while they are working from home. However, if the employee “switches back and forth” working between home and in a workplace where others are present, then the employee becomes covered by the ETS while in the workplace. For example, that individual would have to comply with the following vaccination/testing/mask requirements while in the workplace.
  • Employees who work “exclusively” outdoors. However, if an individual spends more than “de minimis” time with others while not outdoors for work, then the ETS would apply. OSHA gives as examples of covered workers outdoor-workers individuals who carpool at the beginning and end of the shift, who share a vehicle while at work, who spend time in a jobsite trailer while at work. OSHA says “de minimis” time in a shared space with appropriate protects does not render the outdoor-worker covered, and gives as an example a worker who uses a properly ventillated multi-stall bathroom.

Requirements

Once a company is a covered employer with a covered employee, the requirements are manifold, including the following:

  • The company must issue a written policy(-ies) that
    • Either,
      • mandates vaccination for all current and new employees, permitting only the following exemptions:
        • Individuals for whom vaccination is medically contraindicated,
        • Individuals for whom it is medically necessary to delay vaccination,
        • Individuals who qualify for religious or disability accommodations.
        • And for each such individual, the company must require by written policy that they submit instead to weekly testing in lieu of vaccination.
        • And, mandates the wearing of masks in the workplace by unvaccinated individuals, whether or not exempted from the vaccine requirement. In other words, even when exempt from the vaccine mandate by reason of a federal required accommodation or one of the other permitted exemptions above, that exempt individual is only exempt from vaccination. They must undergo weekly testing instead. Also they must wear masks in the workplace even if unvaccinated individuals need not.
      • Or permits vaccination as above so that the worker need not wear a mask, but allows employees who choose not to be vaccinated to undergo weekly tests and wear masks instead without having to be vaccinated. Again though an individual who is permitted not to be vaccinated must not only be tested but also wear a mask even when vaccinated individuals are not required to be masked.
      • Employers may choose either approach.
    • Mandates compliance with other CDC workplace requirements, particularly regarding social distancing.
    • Mandates disclosure to the company of each individual’s vaccination status. The ETS specifies what documentation is sufficient to include the standard vaccine card that we have become familiar with, but it generally does not include, except in limited circumstances, self-attestation. Proof of so-called “natural immunity,” in other words documentation of a prior infection that produced antibodies, is not sufficient.
      • Employers who have already obtained and retained proof of vaccination status may be exempt under certain conditions specified in the ETS, from having to re-request vaccination status.
    • Provides paid time off (or sick leave) to be vaccinated then to recover.
    • Requires individuals to promptly notify the company of a positive test.
    • Informs individuals of certain facts regarding COVID-19 and vaccines.
    • Warns violations will result in discipline up to and including discharge.
  • The company must generate a roster of employees reflecting vaccination status.
  • The company must remove individuals from the workplace when they contract/test positive for COVID-19.
  • The company must meet certain recordkeeping requirements.
    • This includes keeping all vaccination and testing records as confidential medical records.
  • The company must meet certain reporting requirements arising out of workplace-related COVID-19 exposures.

As noted above, the testing mandate is delayed until 1/4/2022, companies will need to comply with the other requirements by 12/5/2021, including by adopting the required policy(-ies), requiring masks, generating the required roster, removing infected individuals for the required periods, and complying with the recordkeeping and reporting requirements.

Sample Policies

OSHA has provided a sample policy mandating vaccination and a sample policy mandating masks and testing in lieu of vaccines.

Either-Or

As noted, employers have a general requirement to implement a policy that mandates vaccination. However, employers may opt instead for a policy that mandates vaccination but permits instead testing/masks/etc. in lieu of vaccination. That decision is left to the company’s discretion, and a company can choose one approach or the other, or the company can choose one approach for one workplace, one group of workers in that workplace, one group of workers in one portion of the workplace, etc. In other words a company has the right to adopt the vaccine-mandate approach for all its workers as OSHA urges, or to mix-and-match as the company determines. Again though, in all situations where a person is not required to be vaccinated, they must be required to wear a mask, test weekly, etc.

OSHA recognizes there may be employers who develop and implement partial mandatory vaccination policies, i.e., that apply to only a portion of their workforce. An example might be a retail corporation employer who has a mixture of staff working at the corporate headquarters, performing intermittent telework from home, and working in stores serving customers. In this type of situation, the employer may choose to require vaccination of only some subset of its employees (e.g., those working in stores), and to treat vaccination as optional for others (e.g., those who work from headquarters or who perform intermittent telework). This approach would comply with the standard so long as the employer complies in full with paragraph (d)(1) and (d)(2) for the respective groups.

Testing

Employees who are allowed not to be vaccinated must undergo weekly testing. This is true whether they are allowed not to be vaccinated due to a religious accommodation, disability accommodation, or as part of the employer’s decision to permit testing in lieu of vaccination. Such individuals must provide the documentation of each negative test within 7 days. The type of testing is specified. No test will be sufficient if it is both self-administered and self-read.

Employees may be required to locate their own tests, have their own tests administered, on their own time and at their own cost. OSHA acknowledges this will be a significant burden but expressly states that it crafted the rule to incentivize workers not to elect testing in lieu of vaccination.

As mentioned above, requiring employers to pay for workplace protections makes it more likely that employees will take advantage of that protection, and in this ETS, OSHA intends to strongly encourage employees to choose vaccination, not regular COVID-19 testing. Because employees who choose to remain unvaccinated will generally be required to pay for their own COVID-19 testing, this standard creates a financial incentive for those employees to become fully vaccinated and avoid that cost.

Tests that show the person has so-called “natural immunity,” in other words, tests that for example confirm an unvaccinated person has antibodies from prior infection are not sufficient to meet the requirement for weekly testing, nor do they exempt the person from the need for vaccination.

Some exceptions exist. For example a worker who has tested positive for COVID-19 cannot be required to provide such weekly tests thereafter for 90 days.

OSHA reminds employers that other laws may apply, so that when an employer who chooses for example to permit the worker to undergo testing during work hours or in the workplace (or even to be vaccinated during work hours or in the workplace), then that employer may have subjected itself to a requirement under wage-hour laws, such as FLSA, to pay for such time.

Masks

The kind of mask, face covering, etc., that is permitted is specifically laid out by OSHA in its ETS. It does not include the more informal kinds of coverings we’ve become used to seeing such as neck buffs. It also does not include an otherwise acceptable mask when worn with the nose or mouth exposed. Employers must ensure that workers who are required to wear masks actually wear them such that they cover the person’s nose and mouth.

Employers need not provide masks to unvaccinated individuals. Employers need not pay for masks. Employers need not form-fit masks.

Unvaccinated individuals need not wear a face covering for the limited time it takes to eat or drink or while alone in a room with proper physical protections, such as closed door, ventilation, etc.

Employees may choose to wear more protective types of masks, such as respirators, if they choose; likewise, fully vaccinated individuals must be allowed to wear masks and face coverings if they would like, even though their vaccination status relieves them of the need to do so.

Paid Time-Off (PTO) or Sick Leave

A reasonable amount of paid time-off (PTO) or sick leave must be provided to be vaccinated and to recover.

To be vaccinated, the time off cannot be substituted with other paid time-off (PTO, vacation or sick leave that the employee might have. It must be fresh paid time off on top of whatever other time off the employee might have accrued. However, it can be capped at 4 hours, even if in a given location it will take the worker longer.

Paid time off to recover after the vaccine can be provided in the form of already-accrued PTO/vacation/sick leave, unless the individual has no such time available, in which case, even if the individual had such a policy available to them but has just used it all, additional fresh time must be provided for recovery. The ETS does not have a formal cap for recovery time, but in its preface, OSHA says it presumes no more than 2 days is reasonable.

Employers need not pay employees who have already been vaccinated for such times. The paid time off provisions are not retroactive.

Employers need not pay other costs related to vaccination, even travel costs for employees in remote locations.

Removal from the Workplace Following Positive Test

As noted, the company’s policy must require workers to promptly report a positive COVID-19 test. This is true whether the test was conducted as part of the weekly test-in-lieu-of-vaccine requirement or otherwise. For example, a non-symptomatic worker who experiences a positive test as part of their personal travel plans (who has to be tested for example prior to boarding a flight to a foreign country for vacation) would have to report the positive.

Any individual who has COVID-19, including as confirmed by a positive test, must be removed from the workplace. Under certain conditions they might be allowed to work not around anyone else, such as from home.

Employees may not be allowed to return to work until:

  • A negative nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) that follows a positive antigen test.
  • The employee completes then-current CDC guidelines for isolation, which at this time are:
    • If the employee has no symptoms, 10 days following their positive test,
    • Or, if the employee has had symptoms, the later of 10 days following the onset of symptoms, 24 hours without a fever (unmedicated) and improving other symptoms (not necessarily including loss of taste or smell, which can last much longer),
    • Or, if the employee is released to return to work by a licensed healthcare provider.

Employers are not required — unless otherwise required — to pay for time away from work, though employees may of course use such time as they may have, including PTO/vacation/sick leave. OSHA notes that nothing in the ETS prohibits employees from claiming such time under workers comp laws if the employee can otherwise establish an entitlement to a work-related exposure workers comp claim.

Preemption of State and Local Laws, State OSHA Plans

This ETS is implemented as a law with what is called field preemption. Therefore, it preempts all less-strict or contrary state and local laws. It specifically preempts therefore state laws that conflict with the Biden vaccine mandates, prohibit vaccine passports in the workplace, and prohibit vaccination inquiries in the workplace. OSHA expressly notes this its ETS invalidates laws in at least Arkansa, Arizona, Florida, Montana, and Texas.

States that have their own state OSHA plans and their own state OSHA-type agencies are now required to develop and implement their own variations of the ETS, which must be no less protectful than OSHA’s. State plans must be approved by OSHA itself.

Production of Required Records

Employers must be prepared to produce its policies and roster within 4 hours of request by OSHA, and within end of next business day of a request by an employee or their representative (generally, their union). That roster should reflect employees broken down by their workplaces. Upon request by the Secretary of Labor, all other documents related to this ETS must be provided no later than end of next business day.

Cost of Compliance?

In perhaps the greatest understatement of all time, OSHA anticipates the cost of complying with its ETS, per covered employer, on average across all industries, will be $11,298, for a total nationwide cost of $2,981,347,368. In other words, even at an inconceivable unrealistic low of $11,298 per company, OSHA concedes its ETS is likely to cost $2.9-billion.

Those numbers do not include costs incurred by employees, for example, for testing in lieu of vaccination, which may cost on average $100 per test and as noted above are required weekly for such individuals. In other words, an individual who seeks an exemption from the vaccine mandate due to religious reasons may be coming out of their own pocket to pay more than $2,500 for testing over the course of the ETS’ expected 6-month lifespan, with additional expenditures to ensure they are always wearing a clean and compliant mask while at work.  As noted above, though, OSHA has explicitly said its choice was entirely to disincentivize employees from availing themselves of any option other than vaccination.

Work From Home After The Pandemic?

In an interesting aside, in its preface to the ETS, OSHA reviews recent surveys trying to predict how common work-from-home is likely to be after the pandemic. OSHA looks in particular at one report predicting that, after the pandemic, 22% of full work days post-pandemic will be worked from home, up from 5% pre-pandemic.

States start suing federal government over President Biden’s vaccine mandates

As expected, states have not only begun passing new laws as well as their own executive orders to oppose President Biden’s vaccine mandates but are now suing the federal government. The following ten states just filed one lawsuit in Missouri: Arkansas, Alaska, Missouri, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. Seven states filed a separate lawsuit in Georgia: Georgia, Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia. And Texas filed its own lawsuit in Texas, as Florida has in Florida.

So far the lawsuits focus on the President’s mandate for government contractors, which the White House perhaps not coincidentally simultaneously has begun to potentially soften.

The OSHA rule to implement the President’s mandate for employers of 100 or more  was expected to be issued as early as this week; however, it is now being widely reported that business groups are asking the White House to consider holding off until after the holidays as implementation during the holidays is, they contend, not feasible.

Employers are reminded that President Biden’s mandates remain Executive Orders (unless frozen or otherwise impacted by one of these lawsuits).

White House walks back a few possible steps from its government-contractor mandate

In one of his recent vaccine mandates, President Biden ordered all government contractors to have their personnel vaccinated by December 8, 2021, with permission arguably given later for exemptions for religious and disability accommodations. The federal government’s Safer Federal Workforce Task Force issued guidance affirming and fleshing out the mandate for government contractors. The mandate has by now been formally implemented into many government contracts pursuant to FAR 52.223-99, DFARS 252.223-7999, etc.

On October 27, 2021, White House Coronavirus Response Coordinaor Jeff Zients is widely reported as having walked back the mandate at least to some extent by saying December 8 was not a strict deadline — or in his reported words, not a “cliff” — and that the Whie House would permit some “flexibility.”

The Safer Federal Workforce Task Force then issued FAQs on its webpage that bring the December 8 deadline into question. To be sure, the FAQs warn, December 8 remains the deadline set in the President’s Executive Order, and a company’s failure to ensure that its covered workers be vaccinated or exempt due to a religious or disability accommodation remains grounds for contract termination, debarment, etc. However, the FAQs — although not its prior guidance — now suggest that:

  • An employee whose request for religious accommodation or disability accommodation may be able to be kept employed by the contractor while that request is being processed,
  • And, an employee who has not requested a religious or disability accommodation or who has been denied one may also be able to be employed for at least some limited period of time while a stepped process is employed attempting to start with counseling and education for the employee about vaccination.
  • Both employees would, at all times, be have to comply with masking and social distancing requirements, even if fully vaccinated individuals are exempt from such requirements due to the protection offered by the vaccine.
  • Additionally the FAQs note particular government agencies may impose heighted requirements above and beyond those otherwise applicable in government buildings and under applicable state and local requirements.

How will that actually work? The White House and Task Force offer no specifics. Hopefully, they will provide some sort of detailed step-by-step process employers can follow to comply with this increasingly unclear mandate. Until then, government contractors are reminded that, despite these new softer words from the White House and Task Force, the President’s Executive Order remains the law. Employers who fail to meet the December 8 deadline risk severe penalties including contract termination and future debarment.

Texas joins Montana in conflict against Biden vaccine mandates

By Executive Order of its Governor, Texas has joined Montana in an on-going conflict against the recent vaccine mandates announced by President Biden. But how direct are these conflicts? While certainly direct enough to ensure significant litigation in both states, there appears to be some room for some form of compliance with the Biden mandates, especially in Texas. Hopefully litigation will strike the state bans (or clearly rule, in reverse, that they somehow supersede the Biden mandates), so that employers (and employees) have clarity as to vaccine-related rights and obligations in these states; however, until and unless that occurs, these state laws are likely to create significant confusion as each law leaves significant room for partial compliance with the federal mandates.

The Texas Governor’s Executive Order is likely to be followed by a new statute from its legislature. Indeed, the Governor has already added it to the legislature’s agenda in an upcoming special session. Until then, it provides, as follows:

No entity in Texas can compel receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine by any individual, including an employee or a consumer, who objects to such vaccination for any reason of personal conscience, based on a religious belief, or for medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.

Thus, unless modified by the legislature in its upcoming special session, it appears that while Texas’ new law does apply to private employers, it does not prohibit them from complying with the Biden mandates. Rather, it expands an employee’s ability to demand exemption from a mandate. It is anticipated that all of the Biden mandates will likely permit reasonable accommodations, including exemptions, on the basis of religion and disability. This new Texas law appears to simply add/expand exemptions in Texas on the basis of “personal conscience” or “medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19.” It is not clear how these compare to religion or disability. Is “personal conscience” broader than the already broad definition of “religion”? Are “medical reasons, including prior recovery from COVID-19” broader than “disability”?

The Montana ban flows from its legislature’s new law, House Bill 702. The Montana law adds “vaccination status” and a “vaccine passport” to its state’s EEO law’s definition of protected classes (along with race, etc.). It defines the phrase “vaccine passport” to include as an example a vaccine card. How does the Montana law square up to the Biden mandates? In its FAQ dated 9/29/2021, Montana dodges the question saying that, until the new OSHA rule comes out, its law is “in effect,” without explaining what that means.

The Montana law is already subject to multiple lawsuits seeking to strike it down. The Texas bill is sure to be challenged shortly in the courts.

Hopefully employers will soon obtain clarity from courts in these states. Until then, employers in both states (and any other state that joins this pool of confusion) should realize that neither Texas nor Montana’s state law flatly prohibits compliance with the Biden mandates. They may simply limit how or to what extent compliance is possible. Still both are clearly in direct enough conflict with the Biden mandates, it is likely courts will have to clarify these issues.

Biden vaccine mandates: What private employers know so far

On 9-9-2021, President Biden announced sweeping vaccine mandates that will affect private employers.

So far, what do private employers know to expect?

  • Employers of 100 or more workers will be required to implement vaccine-or-test mandates. Employees who opt not to be vaccinated will be required to be tested weekly. Employees will need to be provided paid time-off to be vaccinated. Fines could be $14,000 per violation.
    • OSHA has been tasked with implementing guidance explaining this new mandate.
  • Government contractors will be required to implement vaccine mandates for their workers. It appears that this government contractor obligation will not allow a test-out option. It appears that this will apply only to contracts entered into after October 15, 2021. It is noted that this “appears” to be the case, because the Biden administration and its Executive Order on this mandate so specify; however, government contractors should review their current contracts to confirm that they do not already require compliance with future FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) that may be adopted during the current contract’s term.
    • It is also noted that the Executive Order does not actually apply to “government contractors.” “Government contractors” is not a phrase defined in law. Rather the Executive Order reaches all federal “contract or contract-like instruments.” It defines that term, as follows:

For purposes of this order, the term “contract or contract-like instrument” shall have the meaning set forth in the Department of Labor’s proposed rule, “Increasing the Minimum Wage for Federal Contractors, ” 86 Fed. Reg. 38816, 38887 (July 22, 2021).  If the Department of Labor issues a final rule relating to that proposed rule, that term shall have the meaning set forth in that final rule.

    • It is noted that the definition of “contract or contract-like instruments” at 86 Fed.Reg. 38816 is very specific and involved. It does not include all forms of government contracts, but it does include some forms of government relationships one might not consider to be government contracts. In other words, that phrase is a technical legally defined phrase, it is not coextensive with the lay term “government contracts.” Some companies that one might think are “government contractors” will not be covered, and some one might think are not “government contractors” will be covered. It will be a technical issue for review against that very specific regulatory definition.
    • Government contractors are encouraged to provide their current and anticipated government contracts to their attorneys for legal review against 86 Fed.Reg. 38816
    • The Executive Order mandates the federal government to issue further guidance on this government-contractor mandate no later than 9-24-2021, with additional deadlines thereafter through 10-8-2021 for further guidance.
  • Medicare and Medicaid providers as well as some other health-care settings such as some nusing homes will be required to impose some form of mandate.

What don’t we know?

We still know virtually nothing about the specifics of how these mandates will actually work. Hopefully we will be receiving guidance from the various government agencies soon. Questions we still do not know include:

  • How workers will need to be counted for the 100-employee mandate.
  • What government contractors will be subject to the government-contractor mandate (see above re “contract or contract-like instruments” and re new-versus-existing contracts).
  • Whether any or all of these mandates will permit opt-outs or other forms of accommodation for disability or religious reasons. The White House announced that federal workers will have accommodation opportunities, but it is not clear to what extent these new mandates will permit accommodations for private employees.
  • When OSHA will implement the required guidance, though it has been mandated do so within the coming weeks. Whether it will do so by way of a standard or informal guidance. Whether it will issue a proposed then final draft according to normal rulemaking processes, or if, as it appears from the way President Biden described it, OSHA will skip the proposed draft stage and simply issue a final version all at once as an emergency rulemaking.
  • Whether paid time-off to be vaccinated will be required only under the 100-employee mandate, or if it will also be required for government contractors and Medicare/Medicaid employers. Whether paid time-off will be required for testing for those who are allowed to opt-out of vaccination. Whether there will be a pass-through permitted to allow the costs of that paid time-off to be credited against federal taxes for example.
  • What the compliance burden and related costs (including the costs of testing and possibly vaccination) will be. At least some of these expenses will be borne by the federal government, as it has been announced the government will spend $2-billion to acquire new tests.
  • What documentation, recordkeeping, examination/inquiry restrictions and other processes will be required for these various mandates.
  • What end-date these mandates will have, in other words, when they will expire.

What have been reactions so far?

Reactions by the business community continue to be mixed. Many companies have already adopted vaccine mandates, with vax-or-test programs probably being among the most common. For such companies these mandates may provide some clarity as to how companies can best implement such mandates. However, many companies, especially in traditionally red-political communities, face strong pushback from their workers, customers, etc., and have been reluctant to do so.

Is litigation likely?

Litigation is expected to challenge all aspects of the new mandates. It is probable that at least some cases will produce rulings before these new mandates start taking effect. Having said that, employers can expect it to come down to the very wire. Therefore, companies should not simply take a wait-and-see approach. Companies will need to start assessing as soon as possible their obligations, if any, and how they will implement these new mandates. Unfortunately, as noted, companies are having to wait at least for now for further guidance from the various government agencies involved.

 

Vaccine lawsuits rising

Missed my recent webinar on vaccines in the workplace? Email me or send me a message through this website if interested in the complimentary on-demand presentation. In the meantime, check out this article on Law 360 (no subscription required). Interesting topics include a look at some of these new lawsuits, the need to provide certain accommodations, the importance of considering state laws, and the confusion caused by current vaccines EUA status.

Tenth Circuit holds employer need not, under ADA, accommodate challenges that an employee’s disability imposes “outside the workplace unrelated to an essential function or a privilege of employment”

The Tenth Circuit recently decided a case involving an employee who required a flexible work schedule to do her job. She suffered from a disability related to her vision. She lived 60 miles from the workplace and relied on family and friends for rides to and from work. Her ability to make it to work on time proved a challenge. The company attempted to allow her to work a flexible work schedule, but that also proved unsuccessful, when her actual schedule became “erratic,” which “contributed to low patient satisfaction scores,” “less than stellar” performance evaluations. She sked the company to continue allowing her the flexible work schedule or even to work remotely full time. The company declined.

The Tenth Circuit held that her request to work remotely or on a flexible work schedule would, if granted, have accommodated “her transportation barrier (which was) a problem she faces outside the workplace unrelated to an essential job function or a privileged of employment.” The company could not control where she lived or when she was able to find rides with friends or family. She was in that sense like all employees, whether disabled or not, and nothing in the ADA imposes on an employer the obligation to grant accommodations that solve workers’ personal off-duty challenges. “(E)mployers have no obligation under the ADA to accommodate disabled employees for problems they face outside the workplace unrelated to the essential job functions of their positions or privileges of employment merely because they are disabled.”

Together with another recent Tenth Circuit case, the decision suggests how the courts may approach litigation that may arise as a result of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the workplace.

Source: Unrein v. PHC-Fort Morgan, Inc., — F.3d — (10th Cir. 4/8/2021).

Tenth Circuit previews likely ruling when employers require return-to-work following pandemic

A recent Tenth Circuit decision previews courts’ likely analysis when employers begin requiring workers to return to the workplace following the eventual end of the pandemic. In the case, the Court held that making a “transitional duty” permanent is not a reasonable accommodation — in other words is not required by the ADA — especially where it would eliminate an essential function of the worker’s position.

The Court used the phrase “transitional duty” to refer to the employer-prison’s temporary assignment of a disabled worker to relatively light duty that consisted of “sedentary” tasks in the “control room.” The prison provided the transitional duty only as a temporary accommodation of his arthritis pending hip surgery after which he was expected to return to his regular duties as a correctional officer. It was undisputed that the regular duties of a correctional officer included the ability to defend oneself, which he could not do absent successful recovery from surgery. When the temporary transitional duty ended and he was still unable to work as a correctional officer, his employment was terminated. He sued claiming that the ADA required the prison to convert the transitional duty into his permanent assignment. The prison responded and the Tenth Circuit agreed that making his temporary accommodation permanent would not have been a reasonable accommodation, in other words, was not required under the ADA. His job was to work as a correctional officer; the transitional duty was merely a temporary effort to respond to his arthritis and need for surgery.

Just as having permitted that correctional officer to work in the control room was merely a temporary response to the circumstances at the time, one that the ADA did not require to be made permanent, so, now in the context of the pandemic, allowing employees to work remotely, temporarily during the pandemic, does not open the door to ADA lawsuits claiming to make remote-work permanent, at least where attendance is itself an essential function of the job. Readers are reminded that the EEOC similarly recently opined that temporarily eliminating an essential function, in response to specific circumstances such as the pandemic, does not require that elimination to be made permanent under the ADA (or Title VII).

Source: Mannan v. Colorado, 2020 BL 493234, 2020 Us App Lexis 39822 (10th Cir. 12/18/20).

Will employers be able to mandate vaccines?

Wondering if employers will be able to mandate vaccines? Long story, short, we don’t yet fully know. It is likely that employers will be able to mandate vaccines — at least as a condition of entry into some workplaces if not as a condition of continued employment — so long as it is required by a business necessity and so long as appropriate opt-outs are permitted especially for religious or disability reasons. Employers with unionized workforces may need to engage in bargaining with their unions, first, unless clear and unmistakable language in the CBA already allows unilateral action. However, federal and state officials throughout the country have said they are currently analyzing the issue and hope to issue guidance soon.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a couple good reads on the subject as an introduction to these issues, you may want to start with two thought pieces on the issues: one by Holland & Hart attorney Brad Williams available here and the other by SHRM available here. With regard to just the EEO laws, especially Title VII’s religious protections and the ADA’s disability protections, interested readers may also like to review the EEOC’s 2009 thoughts from the H1N1 pandemic, especially question 13. Again, though, hopefully the EEOC, along with the DOL and the various state and local agencies, will all be updating their guidance shortly within the context of the current coronavirus pandemic.  

Stay tuned for future updates as guidance becomes available. 

Tenth Circuit holds no adverse employment action is required in a failure-to-accommodate case

The Americans with Disabilities Act recognizes several types of claims that a disabled worker might file against their employer. Typically statutory employment claims include a requirement that the plaintiff prove an adverse employment action, meaning that they suffered harm to their employment, such as being discharged, promoted or other material impact on the significant terms and conditions of employment. The adverse employment action element poses a threshold against de minimis claims.

The Tenth Circuit held that a disabled plaintiff who asserts their employer failed to provide a reasonable accommodation need not prove an adverse employment action. In the case before it, the jury found that, even if the employer may have failed to reasonably accommodate the plaintiff’s disability, it did not result in her discharge, demotion or other harm to the terms and conditions of her employment. Initially a panel of the Tenth Circuit affirmed, but, re-hearing the case en banc, the Tenth Circuit held, over a strong and sizable dissent, that no adverse employment action need be proven because a failure-to-accommodate is itself actionable.

Source: Exby-Stolley v. Weld County, No. 16-1412, — P.3d —, 2020 BL 417137 (10th Cir. 10/28/20)

“Colorado employers continue to lose vast majority of cases to compel workers back on the job,” reports Denver Business Journal

As noted in prior blog posts, Colorado employers have been, and now continue to be, held liable for unemployment benefits in bulk of unemployment claims, despite calls to return to work.

“It has held remarkably steady between 16% and 18%,” Fitzgerald said of the total number of decisions that have gone for employers over the three-plus months the department has heard such disputes. “There’s a number of folks who are just not safe to return to a job regardless of the actions their employers take.”
— Read on www.bizjournals.com/

Supreme Court reinforces anti-discrimination law’s ministerial exemption

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court upheld religious elementary schools’ ability to otherwise-discriminate against teachers under the “ministerial” exemption. Title VII, the ADEA and other anti-discrimination laws recognize a ministerial exemption, consistent with the First Amendment, that permits a synagogue, for example, to require that its rabbi actually be Jewish and that she adhere faithfully to the synagogue’s interpretation of Judaism.

In this case two teachers sued for wrongful discharge. One alleged age discrimination, the other alleged disability discrimination. The schools responded that it need not prove the real reason for their discharges because neither were protected under either the age or disability discrimination laws, because both fell under the ministerial exemption. Neither teacher was a “minister” in the sense of being ordained, having the title of a minister, or having any religious education or formal training. However, both taught courses that included religion. Both had been instructed when hired and again during their employment that their individual faith and morals were essential components of their jobs performance. Both prayed with their students as part of their jobs. The majority of the Court held all of that was sufficient for both to fall within the ministerial exemption.

There is abundant record evidence that they both performed vital religious duties. Educating and forming students in the Catholic faith lay at the core of the mission of the schools where they taught, and their employment agreements and faculty handbooks specified in no uncertain terms that they were expected to help the schools carry out this mission and that their work would be evaluated to ensure that they were fulfilling that responsibility. As elementary school teachers responsible for providing instruction in all subjects, including religion, they were the members of the school staff who were entrusted most directly with the responsibility of educating their students in the faith. And not only were they obligated to provide instruction about the Catholic faith, but they were also expected to guide their students, by word and deed, toward the goal of living their lives in accordance with the faith. They prayed with their students, attended Mass with the students, and prepared the children for their participation in other religious activities. …. Their titles did not include the term “minister,” and they had less formal religious training, but their core responsibilities as teachers of religion were essentially the same. And both their schools expressly saw them as playing a vital part in carrying out the mission of the church, and the schools’ definition and explanation of their roles is important. In a country with the religious diversity of the United States, judges cannot be expected to have a complete understanding and appreciation of the role played by every person who performs a particular role in every religious tradition. A religious institution’s explanation of the role of such employees in the life of the religion in question is important.

Source: Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, case no. 19-267 (7/8/2020).

EEOC confirms coronavirus antibody testing not permitted as part of return-to-workplace program, although active-virus testing may be permitted

The EEOC updated its FAQ guidance with Q&A no. A7, advising that an employer may not require coronavirus antibody testing (which is the blood test done to see if the person’s blood suggests they were previously exposed to the virus sufficient to create antibodies) as part of a company’s return-to-workplace program. However the EEOC advised (1) this may change as the science develops and (2) an employer may be able to require active virus testing (which is commonly done with a nasal swab) if such testing is uniformly required and “job-related consistent with business necessity.”

A.7.  CDC said in its Interim Guidelines that antibody test results “should not be used to make decisions about returning persons to the workplace.” In light of this CDC guidance, under the ADA may an employer require antibody testing before permitting employees to re-enter the workplace? (6/17/20)

No. An antibody test constitutes a medical examination under the ADA. In light of CDC’s Interim Guidelines that antibody test results “should not be used to make decisions about returning persons to the workplace,” an antibody test at this time does not meet the ADA’s “job related and consistent with business necessity” standard for medical examinations or inquiries for current employees. Therefore, requiring antibody testing before allowing employees to re-enter the workplace is not allowed under the ADA.  Please note that an antibody test is different from a test to determine if someone has an active case of COVID-19 (i.e., a viral test).  The EEOC has already stated that COVID-19 viral tests are permissible under the ADA.

The EEOC will continue to closely monitor CDC’s recommendations, and could update this discussion in response to changes in CDC’s recommendations.

EEOC updates Q&A, specifically re employees with an underlying disability that puts them at “higher risk” re coronavirus

The EEOC updated its prior Q&A re coronavirus, adding three questions (numbered G3-G5) to address the needs of employees who already suffer from an underlying disability that, now, puts them at “higher risk” related to coronavirus.

First in questions G3-G4, the EEOC advises that an employer is obligated to consider whether a reasonable accommodation exists to permit such an individual to return to work once a request is made. Until a request is made, the employer has no obligation to consider the possibility of a reasonable accommodation. The EEOC explains too that the request need not be made formally — it may be made “in conversation or in writing” — and it need not be made by the employee themselves — it may be made by the employee “or a third party, such as an employee’s doctor.” Indeed the request need not even be a request, it is enough if the employee “let(s) the employer know that she needs a change for a reason related to” an underlying disability.

Question G4 confirms that an employer need not consider a reasonable accommodation even when the company knows the worker has an underlying disability that might put them at a “higher risk” related to coronavirus, until such a request is made. However where the employer is itself concerned that the employee’s disability might put them at a “higher risk” related to coronavirus, the employer cannot on its own initiative “exclude” the worker from work unless it can prove a “direct threat” to the worker’s own health (or the health of others) and, further, that the “direct threat” cannot be removed by reasonable accommodation, such as allowing “telework, leave, or reassignment” if reasonable. The EEOC discusses the possibility of showing such a “direct threat,” noting it “is a high standard,” with proof that “if, after going through all these steps (of considering the relevant risk, the possibility of reasonable accommodation, etc.), the facts support the conclusion that the employee poses a significant risk of substantial harm to himself that cannot be reduced or eliminated by reasonable accommodation.”

Question G5 discusses possible accommodations that should be considered by an employer and worker in trying to determine if a reasonable accommodation might exist to permit a worker with an underlying disability to work despite a “higher risk” related to coronavirus (emphasis added).

Accommodations may include additional or enhanced protective gowns, masks, gloves, or other gear beyond what the employer may generally provide to employees returning to its workplace.  Accommodations also may include additional or enhanced protective measures, for example, erecting a barrier that provides separation between an employee with a disability and coworkers/the public or increasing the space between an employee with a disability and others.  Another possible reasonable accommodation may be elimination or substitution of particular “marginal” functions (less critical or incidental job duties as distinguished from the “essential” functions of a particular position).  In addition, accommodations may include temporary modification of work schedules (if that decreases contact with coworkers and/or the public when on duty or commuting) or moving the location of where one performs work (for example, moving a person to the end of a production line rather than in the middle of it if that provides more social distancing).

These are only a few ideas.  Identifying an effective accommodation depends, among other things, on an employee’s job duties and the design of the workspace.  An employer and employee should discuss possible ideas; the Job Accommodation Network (www.askjan.org) also may be able to assist in helping identify possible accommodations.  As with all discussions of reasonable accommodation during this pandemic, employers and employees are encouraged to be creative and flexible.

EEOC issues guidance re Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace

The EEOC issued a guidance entitled Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act. While the guidance does not answer some of the more difficult questions posed in the current coronavirus crisis, it does provide guidance on at least some questions employers are facing and are likely to face, including the following:

  • Before an influenza pandemic occurs, may an ADA-covered employer ask an employee to disclose if he or she has a compromised immune system or chronic health condition that the CDC says could make him or her more susceptible to complications of influenza?

No. …

  • Are there ADA-compliant ways for employers to identify which employees are more likely to be unavailable for work in the event of a pandemic?

Yes. …

Below is a sample ADA-compliant survey that can be given to employees to anticipate absenteeism.

ADA-COMPLIANT PRE-PANDEMIC EMPLOYEE SURVEY

Directions: Answer “yes” to the whole question without specifying the factor that applies to you. Simply check “yes” or “no” at the bottom of the page.

In the event of a pandemic, would you be unable to come to work because of any one of the following reasons:

    • If schools or day-care centers were closed, you would need to care for a child;
    • If other services were unavailable, you would need to care for other dependents;
    • If public transport were sporadic or unavailable, you would be unable to travel to work; and/or;
    • If you or a member of your household fall into one of the categories identified by the CDC as being at high risk for serious complications from the pandemic influenza virus, you would be advised by public health authorities not to come to work (e.g., pregnant women; persons with compromised immune systems due to cancer, HIV, history of organ transplant or other medical conditions; persons less than 65 years of age with underlying chronic conditions; or persons over 65).

Answer: YES______ , NO_______

  • May an ADA-covered employer send employees home if they display influenza-like symptoms during a pandemic?

Yes. …

  • During a pandemic, how much information may an ADA-covered employer request from employees who report feeling ill at work or who call in sick?

ADA-covered employers may ask such employees if they are experiencing influenza-like symptoms, such as fever or chills and a cough or sore throat. Employers must maintain all information about employee illness as a confidential medical record in compliance with the ADA. …

  • When an employee returns from travel during a pandemic, must an employer wait until the employee develops influenza symptoms to ask questions about exposure to pandemic influenza during the trip?

No. …

  • During a pandemic, may an ADA-covered employer ask employees who do not have influenza symptoms to disclose whether they have a medical condition that the CDC says could make them especially vulnerable to influenza complications?

No. …

Employers should take the time to review the EEOC’s guidance and familiarize themselves with the nuances of the EEOC’s carefully worded answers. In the foregoing summaries, for brevity’s sake, only the EEOC’s conclusions (like “No”) are cited, but the EEOC’s answers, as indicated by the ellipses (“…”) proceed to qualify its answers.

Expert testimony not required to prove a “disability,” some of the times

The Tenth Circuit held that a plaintiff doesn’t always need to have a medical expert to confirm the plaintiff’s medical condition rises to the level of a “disability” protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

When is a medical expert required? “(W)]here injuries complained of are of such character as to require skilled and professional persons to determine the cause and extent thereof,” and that question needs to be asked by each court in each individual case. This seemingly circular standard — expert medical testimony is required when it is necessary to understand the medical condition — was somewhat clarified by the Tenth Circuit when the Court contrasted such cases, at least, against those where the disability is “obvious.”

In short, the Tenth Circuit’s decision makes clear that expert medical testimony is likely always helpful to a plaintiff, might sometimes be required but isn’t always, and no plaintiff, or defendant, will know until the trial court, after undertaking a case-by-case analysis decides in any given case.

Source: Tesone v. Empire Marketing Strategies, case no. 19-1026 (10th Cir. 11/8/19).

Tenth Circuit reaffirms Adverse Employment Action element of discrimination claims, including failure-to-accommodate claims under the ADA

The Tenth Circuit reaffirmed that plaintiffs must prove they suffered an Adverse Employment Action in all discrimination claims, including claims alleging a failure to accommodate under the ADA.

(A)n adverse employment action is an element of a failure-to-accommodate claim 
To establish an Adverse Employment Action, the plaintiff must prove more than that she suffered a “a mere inconvenience or an alteration of job responsibilities.” Rather, the Tenth Circuit held she must prove that she suffered harm to “a term, condition, or privilege of employment.”