Last month, I had the pleasure of speaking to the Federal Bar Association about hot topics under the Americans with Disabilities Act with my blogging buddy Bill Goren, proprietor of the Understanding the ADA blog. If you haven’t visited Bill’s blog, you should — he covers all aspects of the ADA, including Titles II and III, as well as the employment provisions (Title I).

Here are four ADA (or ADA-related) areas that employers need to watch in the coming year:

This week, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that a “multimonth leave of absence is beyond the scope of a reasonable accommodation” under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In doing so, the court rejected longstanding guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that a long-term medical leave is a reasonable accommodation when the leave is (1) definite and time-limited (not open ended); (2) requested in advance; and (3) likely to enable the employee to perform the essential job functions on return. Noting that under the EEOC’s position “the length of leave does not matter,” the court characterized it as an “open-ended extension” of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

As you know, I strongly disapprove of use of the "N" word in the workplace. I don't think African-Americans should say it, and I really, really don't think people who aren't African-American should use it.

Well, this weekend President Obama used the "N" word, and he didn't say "the 'N' word." In a podcast interview with comedian Marc Maron, the President was quoted as saying,

Racism ...

I presented a webinar this past Wednesday for the Clear Law Institute on the topic of pregnancy and lactation accommodation. As most of our readers know, many state and local governments are passing laws requiring that pregnant women be reasonably accommodated on the job rather than being forced to take medical leaves of absence until after the baby is born. And we are starting to see some ...

An article by Lauren Weber and Rachel Feintzeig in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal caught a lot of attention -- it was about companies that have made the decision to do without a Human Resources function.

The idea drew some positive response on Twitter:

HR stifles innovation and bogs down businesses with inefficient policies and processes. http://t.co/5cGRIwHaxR

— Mike Brice ...

It has been a long time since we talked about the Family and Medical Leave Act, but a couple of interesting and noteworthy decisions came out this week from Way Out West.

Our first case, from a federal district court in Oregon, answered the following question:

Can an employer require a doctor's note every time an employee takes intermittent FMLA leave?

YES

NO

C'mon! Even if he's an abuser?

UPDATE (7/2/13): As promised last week, here is a link to a bulletin on the Windsor decision and its effects on all types of benefits programs by Brian Magargle in our firm's Columbia, SC, office.

This week's Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor, striking down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, should simplify administration of spousal leave ...

How much do you really know about the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act? Here's a quick quiz:

Which of the following is an unlawful request for "genetic information"?

1. "Our company requires a post-offer, pre-employment medical examination that includes a complete genotype. We will need to verify that you have all 46 chromosomes but no extras. And any mutations will ...

NOTE: I apologize for the delayed posting. Our blogging platform was having technical difficulties for much of the day on Friday, so I decided to wait until Monday to post this to make sure you saw it!

In my last post, in response to the bombings at the Boston Marathon, I talked about some ways that employers can prevent violence in the workplace and even avoid hiring the type of employee who ...

Another set of FMLA regs, effective today! Par-TAY!

Last week I vented about the continuous congressional tweaking of the Family and Medical Leave Act, which necessitated the issuance of new FMLA regulations. Here is a copy of the new regs, which were published in the Federal Register on February 6 and take effect today.

"NEW FMLA REGS!!!! GO WILD!!"

Here are some links at the Department ...