How to Respond to Employee Discrimination Claims During the Continuing COVID Crisis
Duration: 90 minutes
Speaker: Dr. Jim Castagnera, Esq.
Webinar Description
Complaints of age, health, and disability-related discrimination have always been fertile grounds when it comes to employees claiming that they have been the victims of discrimination by their employers, and the EEOC and the courts have often been sympathetic. Now, in the back-to-work environment it is even easier for employees to make these claims given the possibility of contracting COVID-19 at work.
Make no mistake, charges of discrimination by an employer related to COVID-19 has the potential to become a significant problem for your organization with such a large percentage of the workforce comprised of elderly workers, employees suffering from pre-existing health conditions, and the large number of employees with disabilities.
Every year the EEOC and the Courts hear thousands of complaints from employees claiming that their employers have discriminated against them because of their age, health, or a disability. Now in the new work environment your employees will have additional arguments to support these claims, and it won’t be sufficient for an employer to simply say that a COVID-19-related management decision was made for the good of the workplace and not an act of discrimination. Employers will need to prove it. You will need a firm understanding of the federal laws and regulations the EEOC enforces relating to age, health, and disabilities discrimination. You will also need to focus on similar state and local worker protections. Your supervisors and managers will need to have the training they require to implement fairly all personnel-related decisions. You will also want to conduct a review of your current policies and procedures to make sure they are in line with the requirements of new pandemic work environment.
Please join Dr. Jim Castagnera, attorney at law, as he explains the obligations employers have to conform to all anti-discrimination age, health, and disabilities-related requirements under federal, state and local laws and how they can protect their businesses and their workforce consistent with those requirements.
Agenda
During this important webinar Dr. Castagnera will be discussing:
- Key provisions of the federal age, health, and disabilities laws and regulations the EEOC is responsible for enforcing including: the ADA, GINA, and ADEA
- Related federal, state, and local age, health, and disabilities-related anti-discrimination requirements
- Important recent anti-discrimination COVID-19 EEOC actions and court cases
- EEOC interpretation of provisions of the ADA relating to going back-to-work
- CDC and OSHA back-to-work employer guidance
- How to use the ADA interactive process to support your age, health, and disabilities-related management decisions
- Necessary supervisor and manager training to reduce claims of discrimination
- Necessary review and changes of underlying policies and procedures, including sample language
- How to document your employee age, health, and disabilities-related management decisions
- Avoiding claims of retaliation
- How not to violate employee privacy rights when gathering the information you need
- How much latitude do you have in the case of a pregnant employee?
- How much freedom employers have when deciding who should work remotely and who should come to the workplace?
- Is age necessarily a disability under the ADA?
- What illnesses are considered disabilities under the ADA? Has that expanded since COVID-19?
- Does the possibility of contracting COVID-19 require an employer to allow employees to work from home?
- If the employee is in a demographic group more likely to suffer an adverse outcome, does that impact the work at home determination?
- If the employee requests a work-from-home accommodation, may the employer substitute alterations in the physical workplace or work conditions?
- How does an employee’s function impact a work-from-home determination? What about supervisors?
- Are mental health issues stemming from COVID-19 concerns considered long-term disabilities warranting an accommodation?
- GINA‒does a genetic predisposition to an illness warrant accommodation in the pandemic environment? And what are the employee’s privacy rights?
- What if you say “no” to a request for an accommodation? What does the employer have to document? What does the employee have to show?
Continuing SHRM Credit
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Logistics
- 90-minute webinar (Travel-Free) delivered over the Internet.
- Unlimited listeners per connection - bring the entire department.
- Q&A session with the expert.
This event will be presented live with a PowerPoint presentation to be viewed on your computer. You may listen to the audio of the webinar by telephone or through your computer. The PowerPoint slides will be provided shortly before the event. Once you register, you will receive an email which is your receipt and which includes your instructions for dialing in and logging on. You will also receive an email reminder 24 hours before the webinar.
What is a webinar?
A webinar is a live Internet based seminar. Webinars are a way for participants in many different locations to see and hear a presentation and view PowerPoint slides. You can also have your colleagues attend the webinar using one connection.
What kind of equipment do I need?
You will need a computer with an Internet connection (high speed service such as DSL or cable works best) and a telephone. You may listen to the webinar through your computer speakers, in which case you will not need to use a telephone connection. Internet access is not required for phone-only participants, but you will not be able to see the speaker’s slides.
How can I share the webinar with my colleagues who may not be able to attend the event?
CDs of each program will be available for sale and can be shared with your business associates.
Can I get a copy of the PowerPoint slides used in the webinar?
The PowerPoint slides will be available on the materials page link in the confirmation email that will be sent to you no later than the morning of the day a webinar is presented.
How do I ask a question during the webinar? Will my question be answered during the presentation?
A question and answer session will be scheduled at the end of each webinar. You can then ask a question by typing it into the question box that will be provided to you duringthe webinar. You may also ask a question through the telephone connection. As many questions as possible will be answered during the Question and Answer period.