Employment Law: Managing Murky FMLA and ADA Challenges

Agenda / Content Covered

1. Navigating Critical FMLA, ADA, and Workers' Comp Interactions
   11:00 - 11:45, Meghan N. O'Brien
   1. Recognizing When an Employee Qualifies for Leave (Even When They Don't Explicitly Ask for It)
   2. Medical Exam Requests: Top Legal Challenges
   3. Rules on Reinstating Employees: Equivalent Positions, Fitness-for-Duty Certification, etc.
   4. How to Determine When Each Law Applies: With Case Studies
2. Handling Medical Marijuana and Substance Abuse Issues: Top Challenges and Hidden Dangers
   11:45 - 12:30, Meghan N. O'Brien
   1. Medical Marijuana and the ADA - The Latest Developments
   2. Marijuana and Disability Discrimination: Avoiding Critical Mistakes
   3. Marijuana, Drug Tests, and the Blurry Concept of “Impairment” - New Rules and Challenges
   4. Substance Abuse Under the FMLA and the ADA
   5. Disciplining and Terminating Employees With Substance Abuse Issues: Ensuring Legal Best Practices
3. Accommodating Employees With Mental Health Conditions - Key Challenges
   12:45 - 1:15, Latha M. Srinivasan
4. Obstacles in Preventing and Identifying FMLA Fraud and Abuse
   1:15 - 1:45, Latha M. Srinivasan
   1. Identifying Patterns of Abuse: What You Need to Know
   2. Medical Certification: Recognizing Red Flags, Asking for Recertification, etc.
   3. Key Challenges in Conducting Surveillance and FMLA Fraud Investigations
   4. The “Honest Belief” Defense
   5. Drafting and Updating Leave Policies: Avoiding Legal Landmines
   6. Overcoming Difficulties With Intermittent Leave
5. Disciplining and Terminating Employees on Leave: Mitigating Litigation Risks
   1:45 - 2:15, Latha M. Srinivasan

Accreditation Details:

Meghan N. O'Brien is an associate attorney in the Labor & Employment practice group of Archer & Greiner, P.C., where she advises and represents employers in a broad range of matters from daily counseling through litigation. Before joining Archer, Ms. O'Brien received her J.D. degree from New York Law School where she was a member of the New York Law School Law Review and the Securities Arbitration Clinic. She has a Certificate in alternative dispute resolution and remains committed to the field of conflict avoidance, management and resolution. Ms. O'Brien earned her B.A. degree in Political Science and her B.A. degree in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University.

Latha M. Srinivasan is with Lincoln Electric Company Global. She has been a licensed attorney in the state of Ohio for more than 20 years, and has worked in the areas of labor and employment law, business and civil litigation, EEO, HR, AAP, corporate EEO issues, and workplace diversity and inclusion management and implementation. Ms. Srinivasan is currently in the HR compliance group at a utility company with over 15,000 employees. She has presented numerous seminar topics on the various federal and state employment laws and has contributed articles for the Bar Journal of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and other publications in the areas of employment law, social media, and work life balance. Ms. Srinivasan also regularly speaks on lactation laws in the workplace. She is a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (CMBA), and a member of the CMBA's Labor & Employment Section, Women in Law Section, Lawyers Mental Health and Wellness Committee, and Diversity and Inclusion Committee. In addition, Ms. Srinivasan is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, certified as an Edison Electric Institute employment testing manager/lead, and has earned an internal certification of reliability compliance champion at her company. She earned her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Rochester and her J.D. degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where she was awarded the Paul J. Hergenroeder Award in Trial Tactics.