1. Workplace Law And Ethics
Chapter 8

2. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
Prohibits employers who have more than 15 employees from discriminating against individual with disability
Employer must make reasonable accommodations
Exception if undue hardship for employer to make accommodations
AIDS patients protected under this statute

3. Reasonable Accommodation is neither
Maximizing religious/moral values of employee.
Developing a plan of care that gives complete priority to honoring those values
Maximizing the greatest net benefit
Developing a plan that considers the overall cost (i.e., resources) and gives complete priority to the net benefit of the employer.
Both options are ruled out by Step 8 but shows the polar values “reasonable accommodation” attempts to capture.
How far should one extend consideration of religious views?

4. Court Decision in Text Prince v. Massachusetts (p. 177)
“Parents may be free to be martyrs themselves. But it does not follow that they are free in identical circumstances to make martyrs of their children.”
the doctrine
of parens patriae in which the state asserts authority over child welfare
Neither rights of religion nor rights of parenthood are beyond limitation. Acting to guard
the general interest in youth’s well being, the state as parens patriae may restrict the
parent’s control by requiring school attendance, regulating or prohibiting the child’s
labor, and in many other ways. Its authority is not nullified merely because the parent
grounds his claim to control the child’s course of conduct on religion or conscience.
Thus, he cannot claim freedom from compulsory vaccination for the child more than for
himself on religious grounds. The right to practice religion freely does not include liberty
to expose the community or the child to communicable disease or the latter to ill health
or death

5. Religious Beliefs / Moral Beliefs
United States v. Seeger (1965)
Welsh v. United States (1970)
Anderson v. OCTA (1996)
In 1965, the Supreme Court in United States v. Seeger (1965) set the test to determine whether beliefs are religious beliefs.
We have concluded that Congress, in using the expression ‘Supreme Being’ rather than the designation ‘God,’ was merely clarifying the meaning of religious training and belief so as to embrace all religions and to exclude essentially political, sociological, or philosophical views. We believe that under this construction, the test of belief ‘in a relation to a Supreme Being’ is whether a given belief that is sincere and meaningful occupies a place in the life of its possessor parallel to that filled by the orthodox belief in God of one who clearly qualifies for the exemption. Where such beliefs have parallel positions in the lives of their respective holders we cannot say that one is ‘in a relation to a Supreme Being’ and the other is not (United States v. Seeger 1965).
Seeger was importantly expanded in 1970 so that deeply and sincerely held beliefs that are purely ethical or moral in source and content but that nevertheless impose a duty of conscience were nonetheless religious beliefs.
Anderson v. OCTA (Orange County Transit Authority) (1996) will give you a flavor of what counts as a religious belief:
Bus driver who was a practicing vegan
As a promotion, the OCTA had its drivers hand out coupons to riders for a free hamburger at a local restaurant. One of the drivers, Anderson, refused to do so, claiming that he held strong moral and ethical beliefs that prohibited him from personally handing out coupons for the free burgers. This refusal led to Anderson's discharge.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) found that veganism was sufficient to be "religious" because Anderson's moral or ethical beliefs as to what was right and wrong were sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious views.
March 2009

6. Court Decision in Text Armstrong v. Flowers Hosp. (p. 183)
Disparate treatment vs disparate impact
Grubbs v. Medical Facilities (p. 184)
Acute care versus subacute care
Grubbs v Medical Facilities of America
49yr old 359 pound immobile woman with multiple sclerosis taking a number of different medications and requiring specialized or subacute care. She was denied admission due to weight and medical condition.
Subacute care is comprehensive inpatient care designed for someone who has an acute illness, injury, or exacerbation of a disease process. It is goal oriented treatment rendered immediately after, or instead of, acute hospitalization to treat one or more specific active complex medical conditions or to administer one or more technically complex treatments, in the context of a person's underlying long-term conditions and overall situation.
The court notes that an essential element in the nursing home admissions process is the level of care an individual requires. Even if a hospital or healthcare facility receives federal funding, no obligation to become subacute care providers.
Note that subacute is need not be a separate level of licensure, though it is for terms of reimbursement.

7. Employee Health and Safety
Regulated by both federal and state laws
State law may be stricter than federal but cannot be more lenient

8. Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) of 1970
Employer required by law to provide safe and healthy work environment
Must protect worker against hazards
Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens Standards
Standards refer to urine, stool, sputum, nasal secretions, vomitus, and sweat if there is visible evidence of blood
Does not apply to federal government or state.

9. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibits discrimination, or unfair treatment based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
Several exceptions: certain religious-affiliated colleges, public officials and their staff
Forbids discrimination in all aspects of patient care in institutions that receive federal financial assistance
Makes sexual harassment a form of unlawful sex discrimination

10. Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978
Employers must treat pregnant women as they would any other employee, providing pregnancy does not hinder job performance
Employer cannot force woman to quit her job because she is pregnant
Insured equal treatment in areas of disability, sick leave, and health insurance

11. Age Discrimination Act of 1978
Protects persons 40 and older against discrimination
Applies to employers with 20 or more employees
Mandatory retirement prohibited except for certain exempt executives

12. Employment-at-Will Concept
Employment takes place at will of either employer or employee
Employment may be terminated at will at any time for no reason
Employee may quit at any time
Exception for a specific employment contract in which employment cannot be terminated during contract period