MGT 434 Week 2 Applying the ADA and FMLA Example

A Line Cook With a Back Injury and a Manager Caring for a Newborn: Applying the ADA and FMLA at Bluebonnet Hospitality

[Student Name]

University of Phoenix

MGT/434: Employment Law

Week 2 Assignment

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

Bluebonnet Hospitality Group and all employee situations are composites written for a model paper; laws are summarized generally and should be confirmed with counsel.

Bluebonnet Hospitality Group, the composite Austin restaurant company, faces two situations this month. Marco, a line cook at its Round Rock restaurant, injured his back moving a stockpot and returns with a doctor's note limiting him to lifting 25 pounds for at least six months. Derek, kitchen manager at its South Congress location, and his partner are expecting a baby, and he wants six weeks off. The two general managers have very different instincts: one wants to send Marco home until he is fully healed, and the other tells Derek that managers cannot take that much time. Disability and leave laws exist because instinct, however well meant, often leads managers to decisions the law does not allow. This paper applies the ADA and FMLA.

ADA Coverage

With 1,900 workers, Bluebonnet is far above the ADA's 15-employee threshold. The law bars treating qualified people worse because of a disability and obliges the employer to make reasonable changes to the job or workplace, stopping only where a change would cause undue hardship (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2019).

Is Marco Disabled?

Under the ADA, as broadened in 2008, a person has a disability if a physical or mental condition significantly restricts something central to daily life, such as walking, lifting or concentrating, or if there is a history of such a condition, or if the employer treats the person as having one. Lifting is a major life activity. A back injury limiting lifting for six months or more may qualify, since the 2008 amendments made clear that temporary impairments can count if severe enough. Bluebonnet should treat Marco's situation as potentially covered.

Essential Functions of a Line Cook

Essential functions are the fundamental duties of the job. A line cook at Bluebonnet prepares dishes at a station, follows recipes and timing and keeps the station clean. Lifting heavy stockpots and cases of produce is part of the work but is shared among the kitchen team and takes up little time. Whether heavy lifting is essential is debatable; a written job description and how the kitchen actually works will matter.

Reasonable Accommodation for Marco

Possible accommodations include assigning heavy lifting to prep cooks, providing a cart and smaller containers, scheduling him at the sauté or grill station rather than the prep station that handles bulk deliveries or a temporary transfer to a lighter station. These cost little. Sending him home without exploring options would risk an ADA claim.

The Interactive Process

The law expects the employer and employee to talk about the limitation and possible accommodations. HR should meet Marco, review his restrictions, ask what he thinks would help and document the options considered. Schur et al. (2014) found that accommodations are usually low-cost and that coworkers generally accept them when the process is fair.

Undue Hardship

An employer may deny an accommodation that would cause significant difficulty or expense in light of its resources. For a company of Bluebonnet's size, assigning lifting to others or buying a cart is unlikely to qualify as undue hardship.

FMLA Coverage and Eligibility

The FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees. To qualify, a worker needs a year of service, 1,250 hours over the prior 12 months and a location where the company has at least 50 people within a 75-mile radius. Derek has worked for Bluebonnet for four years full time, and many Bluebonnet employees work within 75 miles of his restaurant. He is eligible.

Derek's Right to Bonding Leave

Under the FMLA, a qualifying worker may take as many as 12 unpaid weeks in a 12-month window to care for and bond with a new child, using the time any point in the first year. The right applies equally to fathers. Derek's six weeks are well within the limit.

Notice and Certification

Derek should give 30 days' notice for foreseeable leave. Bluebonnet must notify him of his eligibility and rights within five business days and designate the leave as FMLA leave. It may require him to use accrued vacation at the same time, if its policy says so.

Job Restoration and Benefits

When Derek returns, he must be returned to his old position or one that matches it in pay, benefits and working conditions. His health insurance must continue during leave on the same terms. Telling him managers cannot take leave, or penalizing him for taking it, would be interference or retaliation.

A Possible Exception for Key Employees

The FMLA allows employers to deny restoration to certain salaried key employees among the highest-paid 10 percent if restoring them would cause substantial and grievous economic injury. A kitchen manager is unlikely to be in that group, and the exception requires specific notice, so it does not apply.

When the Laws Overlap

If Marco's back injury required time off, he might also be eligible for FMLA leave, and his injury would also fall under Texas workers' compensation if Bluebonnet participates. After FMLA leave ends, the ADA may require additional leave as an accommodation. Each law's rules must be followed.

Research on Effects

Acemoglu and Angrist (2001) found evidence that employment of people with disabilities fell after the ADA took effect, possibly because employers feared accommodation costs or lawsuits, though later research has debated the finding. The concern is a reminder to hire fairly and to handle accommodations quickly and cheaply, so that fear of cost does not shape hiring.

Pregnancy and Related Accommodations

Derek's partner is not a Bluebonnet employee, but the company's pregnant workers raise a related duty. Since June 2023, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act has required employers of Bluebonnet's size to accommodate known limitations related to pregnancy and childbirth, such as more breaks, stools at host stands or temporary relief from heavy lifting. Servers and cooks who are pregnant should go through the same HR process as Marco, with accommodations considered case by case.

A Central Process

Bluebonnet will route all medical restrictions and leave requests to HR, which will handle the interactive process, FMLA notices and documentation. General managers will be trained to recognize requests and forward them within one day, and to avoid making promises or denials.

Conclusion

Marco may have a disability, and low-cost accommodations would allow him to keep working. Derek is eligible for FMLA bonding leave and must be restored to his job. Both general managers' instincts would have violated the law. A central HR process protects employees and Bluebonnet alike.

References

Acemoglu, D., & Angrist, J. D. (2001). Consequences of employment protection? The case of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Journal of Political Economy, 109(5), 915-957. https://doi.org/10.1086/322836

Bennett-Alexander, D. D., & Hartman, L. P. (2019). Employment law for business (9th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Schur, L., Nishii, L., Adya, M., Kruse, D., Bruyère, S. M., & Blanck, P. (2014). Accommodating employees with and without disabilities. Human Resource Management, 53(4), 593-621. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21607