Business Law - Three Situations of Violations

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Company X has unmistakably violated a provision of The ADEA. This employee has been discriminated against because of age. An employer cannot pass over an employee that is a candidate for promotion due to their age. Clearly stated in the above quote, it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because of his/her age with respect to… promotion. This employee has 180 days to file a claim of age discrimination with U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. At this point, Company X will have to rectify the situation with the employee, hopefully internally, and not in court.

Situation C

An applicant to Company X requires the use of a wheelchair due to paralysis in both legs. The position that the applicant applied for requires movement throughout the entire seven floors of our complex. This would require the use of at least two of the four elevators in our building. In order to access the elevator’s key pads they would have to be lowered four inches. It is required that two of the elevators be modified. The work would take one day per elevator, and cost $1000 per elevator. Company X denied employment to the applicant due to the cost of the elevator modification being an undue financial hardship.

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), prohibits discrimination against individuals with a disability in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental activities. ADA applies to employers with fifteen or more employees, employment agencies, labor organizations, joint labor-management committees, as well as, federal, state, and local government. The Act states that employers have to provide reasonable accommodation to applicants and employees. In this case, reasonable accommodation applies to changing rules, conditions, or facilities which would enable a person with a disability to apply for a job, perform their essential functions, or have access to the all the facilities at which they work. According to the law, employers are not permitted to inquire about an applicant’s disability, until after a conditional offer has been made. In addition, the employer cannot require a medical examination until the applicant receives an offer of employment.

Since undue financial hardship is extremely subjective, and the government does give a tax credit for undue financial hardship, it will be very difficult to justify not modifying the elevators. A special tax credit is available for smaller companies to make adjustments required by the ADA to their facilities. The available tax credit provides for one-half of the cost over two hundred fifty dollars, and cannot exceed ten thousand two hundred fifty dollars. (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) With this information, I can conclude that Company X did in fact, violate the rights of the applicant under the ADA. Company X would be able to claim $1000 toward the cost of modifying the two elevators. The company also has the option of outside funding to cover the cost of the elevators. The initial cost of the modifications would be minuscule compared to the charges that will be brought on by the Unites States Department of Justice for violating this applicant’s rights. In order to prove financial hardship, Company X would have to provide the court a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the burden of hardship in fact exists. Preparing the analysis, and suffering through the consequences of this violation, could very well cost more than the initial $2000. It would be in the company’s best interest to reconsider hiring the applicant and modifying the elevators.

Mayer, G., (2012). The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): An Overview. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42758.pdf

Family and medical Leave Act (1993). Wage and Hour Division. U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/

Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967). U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/age.html

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990). Questions and Answers. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Retrieved from http://www.ada.gov/q&aeng02.htm

Americans with Disabilities Act (1990). Disability Resources. United States Department of Labor. Retrieved from http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/disability/ada.htm

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