Employment

Inclusion: Always in Season

The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) offers advice to companies planning holiday events in its December Business Sense Newsletter.

Using AI to Support People with Disabilities in the Labor Market. (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)

Employment Settlement Agreements and Court Cases

Capterra's 2023 Tech Accessibility Survey Reports on Disabled Employees' Experience with Using Software at Work.

Cloudbeds to Pay $150,000 to Resolve EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, during its hiring process, Cloudbeds failed to provide an accommodation to Peter St. John, a well-qualified candidate in IT administration who is deaf and uses American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate.

Citizens Bank, N.A. to Pay $100,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Citizens Bank refused to accommodate a call center employee after he developed an anxiety disorder and requested to be reassigned to a position that did not require him to field calls with aggravated customers over the phone.

Papa John’s Pizza to Pay $175,000 to Settle Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

Barnes, who is legally blind and relies on his service dog for his commute, reached out to the local store manager and applied for a job. Barnes was hired but could not start until his accommodation request to bring his service dog was formally granted by Papa John's. Papa John's denied Barnes's accommodation request and hired him before he worked a single shift.

A Disabled Warehouse Worker Says He Was Bullied and Abused. A Jury Ordered Amazon to Pay Him $1.2 Million. (Los Angeles Times)

A former Amazon employee with Asperger's syndrome claimed he was bullied and abused by co-workers who called him "retard" and "a waste of life" and the company did nothing when he spoke up.

Supreme Court and DOJ

Supreme Court Says Case Over ADA "Tester" Standing is Moot, But Issue is Still Alive (Ogletree Deakins)

Justice Department Secures Agreement from Pennsylvania Jail to Provide Medications for Opioid Use Disorder.

The ADA prohibits state and local governments from discriminating against individuals who are taking OUD medication at the direction of a medical provider.

Accessible Facilities

Business owner shoveling snow in front of building.

Small Business: Here are Some Quick Tips for Snow Removal!

Inaccessible Hurdles Between Me and My Love of Hotels (United Spinal Association)

A blog on traveling and hotels from the point of view of wheelchair users and CEO of the United Spinal Association, Vincenzo Piscopo.

Maintaining Accessible Features in Retail Businesses (Great Plains ADA Center)

The holiday season is the busiest time of the year for most small businesses. It's the season of MORE--more customers, more inventory, more marketing displays--which requires more attention to maintaining accessible features and services. This document identifies simple ways that businesses maintain accessible features with little or no extra cost.

Health and Wellness

Adults Aging with a Physical Disability Share How Their Surrounding Environment Affects Community Participation.

Researchers recently interviewed people aging with physical disabilities regarding how the built environment in their communities affected their ability to participate in activities like volunteering, exercising, and attending religious services. Individuals reported that engaging in community activities is difficult due to factors such as a lack of safety and convenience in public transit systems and structural barriers in the built environment. The study was conducted in St. Louis.

2023 National Survey on Health and Disability

There is still time to participate in the 2023 National Survey on Health and Disability based at the University of Kansas Institute for Health and Disability Policy Studies.

The online survey is anonymous, confidential, and takes about 20-30 minutes to complete.

Sixth Circuit Approves Hospital's Exclusion of Nursing Student's Service Animal. (JD Supra)

Seyfarth Synopsis: The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals approved a state-owned hospital’s exclusion of a nursing student’s service animal that posed a direct threat to patients and staff with severe allergies where no reasonable alternatives existed to mitigate the threat.

Accessible Technology

Microsoft Releases Seeing AI App on Android, Adds Features

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) V2.2

WCAG 2.2 is Here: What You Need to Know (3Play Media)

Accessible Transportation

Technical Assistance Brief: Microtransit Accessibility (National Aging and Disability Transportation Center)

Microtransit is a form of shared-ride-on-demand transport that extends the reach of transit systems or in some cases, replaces fixed-route bus or rail services. The technology is being used for first/last mile feeder ADA paratransit, midday grocery shopping, non-emergency medical transportation, shared-ride commuter trips, and night and weekend services where fixed route bus service is not economical.