Law Offices of John P. Martin

President Bush signed into law new amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Both houses of Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act with overwhelming bipartisan support. The measure was introduced to make legislative fixes for several federal court rulings and restore the original intent of Congress when the law was enacted.

The court decisions had limited worker protections offered under the existing statute and had “excluded individuals who should have been covered under the ADA,” according to a letter sent to Congress from a coalition of business-related and disability advocacy groups.

This looks like good news for employees.

These amendments were strongly favored by the American Association for People with Disabilities.

AAPD

Here is an interesting case from Canada. A teacher is suing for $2.2million in damages because he was defamed and falsely accused of sexual harassment. Also, interesting are his discrimination claims based on students making anti-semitic remarks.

A veteran public school teacher has launched two defamation lawsuits against principals, teachers, parents and school board administrators, claiming over $2.2 million in damages.

One of Abrams’ legal actions claims he was told to adjust or otherwise falsify students’ marks at Bishop Pinkham, because parents had complained. When he did not do so, he says, he was subjected to harassment by superiors.

He said the school’s principal and vice-principal (later the principal) made statements to parents about his professional abilities and took action to undermine him at work.

Link to Story

Washington is a hotbed for religious discrimination cases.

Here and elsewhere across the country, complaints alleging religious discrimination are up dramatically, with confrontations arising over how people publicly observe their faith, when and where they pray, how they dress, what hours they work — and generally what they believe.

Between 2002 and 2006, the number of religious-discrimination complaints filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) nationally rose more than 30 percent from the previous five years.

For Washington state, complaints rose 60 percent for the same period. In fact, religious complaints in the state for 2006 were the highest they’ve been in at least 15 years.

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Making jokes and comments about a person’s religion can create a “humiliating and painful environment” and be a form of on-the-job discrimination, the state’s highest court ruled Thursday.

The New Jersey Supreme Court said remarks about someone’s faith — even as a form of ribbing or “breaking of chops” — cannot be tolerated in the workplace.

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