Media Mentions
Oct 10, 2006
Mark Oberti Published in the Houston Business Journal
Mark Oberti’s article, “Hot issues: What can be done to help control health care costs?” appears in the October 9 issue of the Houston Business Journal. When an employer terminates an employee because the employee's medical condition renders him unqualified, or poses a threat to the safety of coworkers or customers, it's not uncommon for the ex-employee to sue for disability discrimination and win big bucks, says Mark. He describes three cases in which ex-employees who were terminated under such circumstances sued under the American Disabilities Act (ADA) and won substantially.
Mark offers employers 6 pointers "to avoid the ADA trap:” Train human resources department and managers; Don't assume: Don't remove an employee from a job before analyzing the situation with informed medical professionals and lawyers; Communicate with kindness: Document requests for accommodation and responses and show compassion; Interact: Do not deny a request for an accomodation without discussing the employee's proposed accommodation or alternatives with them in detail; Don't blindly rely on doctors: Make sure the doctor doing pre-employment exams knows what the essential qualifications for the job are and performs an individualized assessment; and Stay alert of ADA developments.