2014 - Legal Issues in Dealing with Employees with Psychiatric Illnesses under the ADA

Instructor: Susan Fahey Desmond
Description:
Webinar discussing when mental illnesses are disabilities under the ADA and what accommodations may be expected. Maybe it's the Internet; however, it seems that we read about an employee with a history of psychiatric illness coming to work one day and injuring/killing many.
Former Navy reservist suffering from paranoia killed 12 people at a Washington Navy Yard. He claimed he had been hearing voices and was being treated for mental illness in the weeks before the shooting rampage. A fired employee killed six at Accent Signage - his parents stated that they had seen signs of schizophrenia but that he shut out offers of help. Psychiatric illnesses are hard to detect - you don't see the broken leg, check an individual's blood count. These illnesses are based on "symptoms" and "behaviors" that are often progressive in nature. Medications to deal with the symptoms or behaviors are very much trial and error. Sometimes individuals with strange behaviors are, well, just strange and don't have a psychiatric illness at all. Employers are not psychiatrists but they are required to accommodate individuals with mental impairments that substantially limit a major life activity. What does an employer do when an employee is "acting strange"? What are the employer's obligations when an employee has a diagnosed mental illness?
Why Should you Attend:
Mental illnesses are costly for employers - either due to decreased productivity, excessive absenteeism, and, unfortunately, due to the individual harming others in the workplace. Employers walk a very fine line when dealing with these illnesses - the line of accommodation required under the ADA and the line of co-workers unfounded fears when someone has a mental illness or is just plain "strange." No company wants to be handling situations where an employee walks in one day and systematically shoots, maims, kills, etc., other employees in the workplace. The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to those with mental impairments that substantially limit their major life activities unless (1) the accommodation causes an undue hardship on the employer; or (2) the employee poses a direct threat either to his safety or the safety of others. What does this mean to employers? How does an employer handle employee's unwarranted fears?
Objectives of the Presentation:
The ADA requirements with regard to mental impairments.
The most common mental illnesses and symptoms associated with them.
Differentiating a major depressive disorder from one who is going through a temporary depression.
How to hold those with psychiatric illnesses to the same standards as those without these illnesses.
The interactive process an employer should engage in while dealing with an employee with a psychiatric illness.
What types of accommodations can an employer expect to be asked to consider with regard to an employee with a psychiatric illness?
When can an employer deny an individual employment or accommodation because the individual poses a direct threat to the safety of himself or others?
What to do if an employee refuses to take his medication.
Can you force an employee to seek help through an EAP or get an evaluation through a psychiatrist?
Understanding the warning signs that one may engage in workplace violence.
Who can Benefit:
Management
Human Resource Managers
Safety Managers
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