New Guidance from the US Department of Education on Civil Rights of Students with ADHD

The US Dept. of Education issued guidance in July clarifying schools’ obligation to provide equal education opportunities under §504 of the Rehabilitation Act to students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).  The guidance clarifies the obligation of schools to evaluate students and provide services to students with ADHD based on their individualized needs, not just based on generalizations about the condition.  The guidance also clarifies that schools should look at students who experience behavioral challenges or present as unfocused or distractible as possibly in need of ADHD accommodations, and should pursue evaluation. The Department released a “Know your Rights” document that provides a brief overview of schools’ obligations to students with ADHD. You can see this document at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/dcl-know-rights-201607-504.pdf

To see the full DOE guidance on ADHD, go to : http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201607-504-adhd.pdf

EEOC Issues Guidance on Employer Provided Leave and the ADA

In May, the EEOC clarified and emphasized that employers may be required to approve leave for disabled employees as a reasonable accommodation even when that leave goes beyond the amount of leave generally provided pursuant to the employer’s policies.  Among other warnings, the guidance also specifies that employers will violate the ADA with “100% Healed” policies, (requiring employees with disabilities to have no medical restrictions before they can return to the job), if the employee can perform her job with or without reasonable accommodations, unless the accommodations would cause the employer an undue hardship.  For the full guidance, see https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/ada-leave.cfm