Compliance Stuff

On our May 28, 2026, Employment Law Webinar, HSB’s Matt Blake discussed one of the more nuanced intersections in employment law: the relationship between state workers' compensation systems and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). For those who were unable to attend, these are the key takeaways: Two Laws, One Workforce Workers' compensation and the ADA create different frameworks for physical ailments that may coincide in the workplace. W orkers' compensation is addressed by state law; the ADA is federal. When the two conflict, the ADA governs, and state law cannot permit or require discriminatory conduct against a person who qualifies as disabled under the ADA . Critically, workers' compensation exclusivity provisions do not shield employers from ADA obligations. A Workers' Compensation Claim Is Not an ADA Disability, Necessarily The ADA has a three-pronged definition of disability: a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activi...

As 2025 drew to a close, we continued to see employers lose jury trials and face million-dollar verdicts because they i gnored the basics of the interactive process requirements under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). Most often, the fact patterns involve an employee who is underperforming or struggling in performing their job or who refuses or is unable to perform certain job functions. Frustrated that the work is not being handled, these employers rush to terminate the employee’s job, often without following a systematic or logical approach and failing to document the process. For instance, in one recent case, an employee who was required to drive at night told her supervisor that she felt unsafe working at night and had difficulty driving because she had night blindness, where bright streetlights and traffic lights blinded her, created halos, and made it difficult to see. Her manager dismissed her concerns, noting that she had previously driven at night, and she was subsequ...