The Iowa Supreme Court (yes Iowa, not Idaho – I do know the difference!) issued an interesting opinion on December 21, 2012 in the case of Nelson v. James H. Knight DDS P.C. Although the opinion only applies directly to Iowa law, it is an interesting case, and illustrates the oddities of employment law in our country. (For the record, this case may well have had the same outcome under Idaho law or federal law.) Melissa Nelson was a twenty year-old dental hygienist, who was hired by Dr. ...
Does A Company Violate Ada By Firing Someone Because She Is Heavy?
I recently attended an interesting presentation on the obesity epidemic, which used to be an American issue but is more and more becoming a global one. In Japan, for example, companies are required to measure their employees’ waistlines and companies face penalties if their workforce remains over the Japanese national guidelines (of 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women). This led me to wonder whether Japanese firms would try to fire (or decline to hire) people over those ...
What Is GINA?
The Genetic Information Nondisclosure Act of 1998 (“GINA”) deals with the use of genetic information in insurance and employment. Prior to GINA, there was a fear that, as doctors make increasing use of a patient’s genetic information in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, insurers and employers would make increasing use of such information for less legitimate reasons. The concern was that an insurer might learn that you have a genetic predisposition to cancer, for example, and on that ...
