1 2019 ADA Update Jeanne Goldberg Senior

Transcript:1 2019 ADA Update Jeanne Goldberg Senior:
1 2019 ADA Update Jeanne Goldberg Senior Attorney-Advisor Office of Legal Counsel U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Commission News NEW CHAIR & EEOC QUORUM RESTORED Janet Dhillon sworn in May 15, 2019 as EEOC Chair, restoring quorum. Joins Commissioners Victoria A. Lipnic, who had served as Acting Chair since January 2017, and Charlotte Burrows Chair Dhillon previously practiced law in the private sector for over 25 years: Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Burlington Stores, Inc. Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of JC Penney Company, Inc. Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of US Airways Group, Inc. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP Status: Rescission of Incentives Provisions – ADA and GINA Rules on Employer Wellness Programs EEOC issued ADA and GINA regulations in 2016 addressing the financial incentives that could be offered for employees and their spouses to provide current or past health status information as part of employer wellness programs. AARP challenged, and federal court vacated the incentives sections effective January 1, 2019. AARP v. EEOC, No. 16-2113 (D.D.C. Dec. 20, 2017). To comply with the court’s order, EEOC rescinded those sections on Dec. 20, 2018. The non-incentives portions of the regulations relating to wellness programs remain in effect. Status: Rescission of Incentives Provisions – ADA and GINA Rules on Employer Wellness Programs Non-incentives portions of the regulations relating to wellness programs that collect health information remain in effect, for example: program must be reasonably designed to promote health or prevent disease health information collected subject to confidentiality protections employers must provide ADA notice about how information collected will be used and protected from disclosure participation must be voluntary -- cannot require/coerce participation or take adverse actions/retaliate/harass for non-participation Updates, News, and Information From EEOC EEOC Press Releases https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/index.cfm EEOC FY 2018 Performance and Accountability Report https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/plan/upload/2018par.pdf ADA Case Update Is Your Online Application Process Accessible? EEOC v. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas, Civil Action No.3:17-CV-02626-D (N.D. Tex. consent decree entered March 2019), https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/03-19-19.cfm. Based on resume, applicant invited to complete online assessment that included audio portion Unable to complete because no captions or other visible accommodations for applicants with hearing impairments Contacted company to request accommodation Company stopped communicating with her notwithstanding her repeated attempts to follow up with human resources staff Resolution: $75,000, annual ADA training, informing applicants and employees of ADA rights, including reasonable accommodation,