On December 14, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 technical assistance adding a new section to clarify under what circumstances COVID-19 may be considered a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act.

On December 14, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its COVID-19 technical assistance adding a new section to clarify under what circumstances COVID-19 may be considered a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act.

A recent kerfuffle has provided the opportunity to consider misgendering as harassment based on sex. In Doe v. Triangle Doughnuts, LLC, the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania used evidence that Plaintiff’s colleagues misgendered her with a male name and male pronouns despite her requests to use her female name and female pronouns to find that she had stated a claim for a hostile work environment based upon gender stereotyping in violation of Title VII. 472 F. Supp. 3d 115 (E.D. Penn. 2020). The case later settled. 

A recent kerfuffle has provided the opportunity to consider misgendering as harassment based on sex. In Doe v. Triangle Doughnuts, LLC, the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania used evidence that Plaintiff’s colleagues misgendered her with a male name and male pronouns despite her requests to use her female name and female pronouns to find that she had stated a claim for a hostile work environment based upon gender stereotyping in violation of Title VII. 472 F. Supp. 3d 115 (E.D. Penn. 2020). The case later settled. 

The EEOC has recently made two resources available to practitioners and the public.

The EEOC has recently made two resources available to practitioners and the public.

Since COVID-19 required many employers to put most or all of its employees on remote work, in many cases for several months or more, employees may fair better in their attempts to show that attendance is not an essential function of the job in many instances and that working from home is a reasonable accommodation.

Since COVID-19 required many employers to put most or all of its employees on remote work, in many cases for several months or more, employees may fair better in their attempts to show that attendance is not an essential function of the job in many instances and that working from home is a reasonable accommodation.

The “new normal” brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in the era of virtual meeting technology and other connective platforms as substitutes for in-person communication. Platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Webex, Google Hangouts and GoToMeeting have become mainstays in the business world, to the point where the average professional can hardly spend a workday without using at least one.

The “new normal” brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in the era of virtual meeting technology and other connective platforms as substitutes for in-person communication. Platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Webex, Google Hangouts and GoToMeeting have become mainstays in the business world, to the point where the average professional can hardly spend a workday without using at least one.