HR Specialist: New York Employment Law

Employee interpretations of state laws are leading to sky-high numbers of lawsuits in the Empire State. Aggressive attorneys don’t stop with federal laws like FMLA, ADA and FLSA: they use state and local living-wage statutes, rural codes, plus discrimination and other laws to sue employers for sky’s-the-limit damages. This New York-specific newsletter arrives monthly to help sue-proof every aspect of HR. Written in plain English, it’s your insurance policy for staying in step with current interpretations of state and local laws – and staying out of court. Learn more about HR Specialist: New York Employment Law and the free report you’ll get when you subscribe...

A federal trial court has concluded that coming to work is an essential function of one’s job. Therefore, the ADA doesn’t cover disabled employees who can’t meet that basic requirement.

Recent case: Doudou Janneh worked part time for a movie theater chain until he became ill. Janneh claimed he was disabled. Because he had not worked enough hours to be eligible for FMLA leave and because he had no other leave available, he was terminated.

He sued, alleging disability bias.

The court tossed out his case, reasoning that Janneh had not been capable of returning to work since the day he was discharged and his deposition three years later. Under those circumstances he was not a qualified disabled employee because he was incapable of coming to work at all. (Janneh v. Regal Entertainment Group, No. 3:07-CV-79, ND NY, 2009)