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On August 16, 2022, a split Fourth Circuit panel became the first federal appellate court to hold that gender dysphoria qualifies as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  In Williams v. Kincaid, the panel’s majority held that gender dysphoria, a disabling medical condition that affects many transgender people, is distinct from the “gender identify disorders” Congress excluded from the law’s protections upon passage in 1990, meaning the ADA’s protections in employment settings, public accommodations and transportation now extend to people with gender dysphoria under the circuit’s jurisdiction.[1] Continue Reading Fourth Circuit Holds ADA Protections Cover Gender Dysphoria

On July 12, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 guidance for the workplace, most notably, its guidance regarding COVID-19 testing of employees. Prior to last week, the EEOC took the position that mandatory COVID-19 testing would always be “job related and consistent with business necessity” – a requirement for permissible medical examinations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Given the evolving nature of the pandemic, the EEOC has changed course and has determined that employers now must make an individualized assessment as to whether current pandemic and workplace circumstances justify mandatory testing of employees to prevent workplace transmission of COVID-19.  In other words, employers can no longer simply assume that mandatory COVID-19 viral testing of employees is lawful under the ADA.Continue Reading The EEOC Issues Updated Guidance on COVID-19 Testing