Disability Benefits Blogs

Social Security Disability – New Changes Make Disability More Difficult

Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”), the two federal disability benefit programs, saw a lot of changes in 2017.

People with Disabilities will ALWAYS Matter – and Have Legal Rights

Change under any new presidential administration can be frightening, especially for people with special needs. But for one particular New York Times contributor who happens to be a woman AND physically disabled, the removal of the Disabilities section of the White House website has her downright terrified.

EEOC Issues New Guidance on Mental Health Conditions

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently posted a new "Workplace Rights" document for  employees and job applicants with mental-health conditions.

Client With Disability Receives Justice Through The EEOC

Patricia Bonds, a client of Lebau & Neuworth, worked as a food clerk at Safeway's Westminster, Maryland, store when she sustained a work-related injury that substantially limited her ability to lift. Although Safeway initially accommodated Bonds' disability by reassigning her to work at the customer service desk, the store abruptly placed her on indefinite unpaid leave, claiming that she had exhausted her time limits for modified duty.

Living with a Disability Through the Americans With Disabilities Act

We owe much of this progress to the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and the laws that led up to it. Starting in the 1960s, a broad disability rights movement encouraged legislation and policy that gradually desegregated the institutions and spaces that had kept disabled people out and barred them from exercising the privileges and obligations of full citizenship.

Reassignment as Reasonable Accommodation under Maryland Law

Recently in Peninsula Regional Medical Center v. Adkins, the Court of Appeals of Maryland, Maryland’s highest court, clarified what it means to be a qualified individual with a disability. In the case, the plaintiff, Tracy Adkins, sued her employer, Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC), under the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act (FEPA) for “intentional disability discrimination based on actual disability, intentional disability discrimination based on being regarded as having a disability, and failure to accommodate.”

EEOC Issues New Guidance on Leave as a Reasonable Accomodation

Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) allows an employee unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation, unless providing unpaid leave would cause an employer undue hardship. However, how much leave is reasonable is a complex issue for employees and employers alike. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has recently issued a new resource document to help provide guidance on common issues such as intermittent leave, extended leave and how much leave is reasonable. While there are many important topics in the new resource, employees should be aware of the following key points.

What Employees Need To Know About Light-Duty Policies

A “light-duty policy” is an employer’s practice or procedure for allowing an injured or temporarily disabled worker to perform a job other than those that she or he was performing when not injured or disabled.​

Disability Discrimination: The Importance of Being 'Otherwise Qualified'

Excellent Settlement in Maryland Disability Discrimination & Retaliation Case