Presented by:
Martin H. Malin Institute for Law and the Workplace at
Chicago-Kent College of Law
Friday, March 22, 2024
CLE Available (forthcoming)
The COVID-19 pandemic brought renewed attention to the fact that our diverse workforce often needs modifications of how the job is done or when and where the work is performed. We most commonly think of employees with disabilities as needing accommodations. But as recent developments have demonstrated, pregnant workers might be entitled to accommodations under the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), and employees have a better chance of having their religious practices accommodated after the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision, Groff v. DeJoy.
This symposium will explore the current state and future development of accommodations in the workplace. Selected participants might focus on the Americans with Disabilities Act, the PWFA, religious accommodations, the FMLA, state laws, or the lack of protection for employees who might need but are not entitled to accommodations in the workplace, such as employees with caregiving responsibilities. More broadly, we hope to have conversations about the similarities and differences between various accommodation laws, the pros and cons of targeted (versus universal) accommodation mandates, the theoretical justifications for accommodations, the effect of accommodations on coworkers, how COVID-19 has affected accommodations in the workplace, and how workplace accommodations (or the lack thereof) contribute to (or perhaps harm) workplace equality and the well-being of all workers.
Symposium Agenda
9:00—Welcome
9:15-10:30—Accommodating Disability
This panel will discuss recent trends in disability accommodation cases, why many workers choose to self accommodate at work and the consequences of doing so, and the circuit split surrounding the requirement of an adverse employment action in ADA accommodation cases.
Jamie Franklin: Recent Trends in Disability Accommodation Cases
Katherine Macfarlane: Self-Accommodation at Work
Kerri Stone: Untrue Burden
10:30-10:45—Break
10:45-12:00—A Revitalized Religious Accommodation Mandate
This panel will discuss issues surrounding religious accommodations after the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision, Groff v. DeJoy. It also will address how current global conflicts affect religious accommodations at work.
Dallan Flake: After Groff: Establishing Undue Hardship Based on an Accommodation’s Impact on Coworker Morale
Sachin Pandya: Lessons from Unemployment Insurance Appeals for Title VII Workplace Religious Accommodation Litigation
Julie Trester: Global Conflict and its Impact on Religious Accommodations in the Workplace
12:00-1:00—Lunch
1:00-2:15—Expanding Accommodations
This panel will: (1) address the law surrounding gender dysphoria as a disability and more generally what accommodations are needed by LGBTQ+ workers; (2) explore whether the ADA requires covered entities to control the behavior of coworkers, students, or other third parties to accommodate an individual with disabilities; and (3) discuss pregnancy accommodations under the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Ryan Nelson: Queer Accommodations
Doron Dorfman: Third-Party Accommodations
Diane Soubly: Beyond Safe Harbor Laws: “Reasonable Accommodation” of Pregnant Persons in the Workplace
2:15-2:30—Break
2:30-3:00—Ethics Session
This presentation will focus on the application of Model Rule 8.4(g) to disability discrimination, most notably discrimination in the form of the failure to provide reasonable accommodations, and how this requirement may serve both deterrent and educational functions.
Alex Long: Ethics: ABA Model Rule 8.4(g) and the ADA’s Reasonable Accommodation Requirement
3:00-3:45—Accommodating Everyone
This panel will take a broader look at accommodations in the workplace, exploring alternatives to protected-class accommodation mandates.
Louis Cholden-Brown: A Labor Law Path to Broader Workplace Accommodations and Flexibility
Nicole Porter: The Workplace Reimagined: Accommodating Our Bodies and Our Lives
3:45-4:00—Wrap-up