Little-Acorn
03-29-2011, 11:48 AM
Let me get this straight.
Under these new rules, if an employee sues his employer, charging that the employer isn't taking adequate steps to adjust to the employee's disability...
...the burden of proof is now on the respondent (employer) rather than on the plaintiff (employee, the accuser)???
Ummm, isn't that exactly backward from the most basic tenet of American law? I thought the burden of proof was on the accuser, and the accused was assumed innocent until proven guilty.
I frankly find the statements in this article very difficult to believe. Has Fox News fallen for another grand hoax, from The Onion, perhaps?
Lending support to the hoax theory, are humorous statements purportedly from govt official Chai Felblum, saying that the new rules are merely "workable guidelines"... as if employer would have any chance of disregarding them once the courts get through with him.
Sorry, this one doesn't pass the "Silly" test.
---------------------------------------------
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/28/new-rules-label-millions-american-workers-disabled/
New Rules Would Label Millions of American Workers as Disabled
by Shannon Bream
Published March 28, 2011
Millions of Americans may be disabled and not even know it, according to some legal experts.
That's because sweeping new regulations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offer new guidelines on the issue of how to define "disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The ADA, originally passed in 1990 and updated by Congress in 2008, originally defined disability as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity."
When a worker satisfies the definition, employers must provide reasonable accommodations. For years, employers and employees have clashed over who truly qualifies for the sometimes-costly modifications to workplace duties and schedules. Attorney Condon McGlothlen says the new regulations could have a profound impact on that debate.
"Before, perhaps 40 million people were covered by the ADA. That number will increase significantly," McGlothlen told Fox News. "Some people might even say that a majority of Americans are covered as disabled under the law."
New regulations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offer fresh guidelines on the issue of how to define "disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
EEOC Commissioner Chai Felblum said the agency worked hard to find compromise between the business and disability communities, and she's optimistic the new regulations provide the right balance. "These are workable guidelines that will help people with disabilities, and it will be workable for employers," Feldblum said.
Although the new regulations cannot classify any condition as a disability per se, there is a list of maladies that will be viewed that way "in virtually all cases." The list includes: autism, diabetes, epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Overall, lawyers for employers say the regulations shift the burden of proof in disability claims.
They say that employers will now have to show why a worker doesn't require special accommodations, rather than employees proving that the measures are merited.
"It's going to be very difficult for employers to argue in just about any case that an employee is exaggerating their disability or that the person isn't genuinely disabled," McGlothlen said.
(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)
Under these new rules, if an employee sues his employer, charging that the employer isn't taking adequate steps to adjust to the employee's disability...
...the burden of proof is now on the respondent (employer) rather than on the plaintiff (employee, the accuser)???
Ummm, isn't that exactly backward from the most basic tenet of American law? I thought the burden of proof was on the accuser, and the accused was assumed innocent until proven guilty.
I frankly find the statements in this article very difficult to believe. Has Fox News fallen for another grand hoax, from The Onion, perhaps?
Lending support to the hoax theory, are humorous statements purportedly from govt official Chai Felblum, saying that the new rules are merely "workable guidelines"... as if employer would have any chance of disregarding them once the courts get through with him.
Sorry, this one doesn't pass the "Silly" test.
---------------------------------------------
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/28/new-rules-label-millions-american-workers-disabled/
New Rules Would Label Millions of American Workers as Disabled
by Shannon Bream
Published March 28, 2011
Millions of Americans may be disabled and not even know it, according to some legal experts.
That's because sweeping new regulations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offer new guidelines on the issue of how to define "disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The ADA, originally passed in 1990 and updated by Congress in 2008, originally defined disability as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity."
When a worker satisfies the definition, employers must provide reasonable accommodations. For years, employers and employees have clashed over who truly qualifies for the sometimes-costly modifications to workplace duties and schedules. Attorney Condon McGlothlen says the new regulations could have a profound impact on that debate.
"Before, perhaps 40 million people were covered by the ADA. That number will increase significantly," McGlothlen told Fox News. "Some people might even say that a majority of Americans are covered as disabled under the law."
New regulations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offer fresh guidelines on the issue of how to define "disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
EEOC Commissioner Chai Felblum said the agency worked hard to find compromise between the business and disability communities, and she's optimistic the new regulations provide the right balance. "These are workable guidelines that will help people with disabilities, and it will be workable for employers," Feldblum said.
Although the new regulations cannot classify any condition as a disability per se, there is a list of maladies that will be viewed that way "in virtually all cases." The list includes: autism, diabetes, epilepsy and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Overall, lawyers for employers say the regulations shift the burden of proof in disability claims.
They say that employers will now have to show why a worker doesn't require special accommodations, rather than employees proving that the measures are merited.
"It's going to be very difficult for employers to argue in just about any case that an employee is exaggerating their disability or that the person isn't genuinely disabled," McGlothlen said.
(Full text of the article can be read at the above URL)