Starbucks Says "Stools Are Dangerous"

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Liz Overton

A Starbucks employee who was also unfortunate enough to be a dwarf was terminated after asking for a stool to perform her job.  Starbucks claimed the stool would present a danger to other employees or customers.  The EEOC has filed a federal lawsuit against Starbucks under the Americans with Disabilities Act for refusing to provide a reasonable accommodation to the employee and terminating her.

I try to give the benefit of the doubt to all parties--at least initially--but I'm not certain what Starbucks was thinking.  This may be a good case of "what not to do" when confronted with a request for a reasonable accommodation.

What should Starbucks have done?  At the very least, it should have had a discussion with the employee before apparently acting so rashly.  At the most, it should have provided the stool and let her complete her tasks and keep her job.

Tags: , , , ,

Drug Testing Policies

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Liz Overton

 

Iowa law allows an employer to conduct drug or alcohol tests on employees in certain circumstances if certain rules are followed.

 

1.      You must have a written Drug Testing Policy that has been provided to your employees before you can administer a drug test to an employee.

2.      The written policy must provide the disciplinary and/or rehabilitative actions that will be taken against those who test positive or refuse to test. 

3.      If you test for alcohol you must establish an alcohol concentration level at least .04 or greater as the standard.

4.      You must have require a supervisor involved in the testing to attend at least 2 hours of initial training and 1 hour of training every subsequent year. 

5.      You must establish an awareness program to inform employees about the dangers of drug and alcohol use in the workplace.

6.      You must follow specific procedures when conducting a drug and/or alcohol test.

 

The State of Iowa has produced a work-place drug testing guide for more details and answers about drug-testing in the work-place. If you would like to adopt a Drug Testing Policy for your company you should contact your attorney to ensure that you are following all the guidelines.

Tags: , , ,