Employment Discrimination Law Essay Examples

I believe the employer’s claim that Falstaff was fired for misconduct. His conduct after the advent of the back muscle pain indicate that he was not committed to his responsibilities, and despite the fact that he was accorded special treatment based on recommendations of his doctor, he did not fulfil his duties. Complaints by sales employees and his long absences from the showroom while held up in the manager’s office indicate that he indeed was not conducting the responsibilities assigned to him despite the shortcomings brought about by his injury. It can thus be argued that this was not merely a reason given by his employer as a pretext for dismissing him. Falstaff was disabled within the requirements of the ADAAA because he could be regarded as having impairment as a result of his back injury which affected his conduct on the job.
The ADAAA protects employees like Falstaff from improper discharge. This is because under the statute, he falls into the category of protected employees by virtue of his disability as a result of his back injury. The law defines disability, as applicable in Falstaff’s case, as being regarded as having an impairment on major life activities, and further elaborates that an individual will have met this threshold if it can be established that he has been subjected to an action prohibited by the act. Thus, Falstaff is protected under the ADAAA.
A comparison of the case of Falstaff with the Grindel case shows that they are similar in many cases. However, comparison with Adams case does not give clear similarities. As in the Grindel case, there were health issues which arose when the employee was already hired and working for the company. There is also an issue about the ability to lift a certain level of weight, and in both cases the inability by the employee to meet these requirements formed part of the explanation for discharge. In both cases, the employees recorded an increase in their weight which resulted in them being classified as obese. Obesity is considered as a disability under the ADAA and it provides protection against discrimination based on obesity.