The ADA and Workers' Compensation Connection
by Richard Pimentel

When the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, the team of Michael Lotito and Richard Pimentel predicted that its most significant employment impact would not be the hiring of persons with disabilities but rather how the Americans with Disabilities Act would interface with workers' compensation.

They pointed out the following legal issues would become crucial in the Americans with Disabilities Act Workers' Compensation relationship:

• Leaving injured workers in transitional employment assignments for too long could create permanent rather than temporary “light duty” jobs.
• Confusion of language between transitional employment assignments and reasonable accommodations could make injured workers into “qualified persons with disabilities” under the law.
• Mistakes and errors in disability management programs could create Americans with Disabilities Act/Workers' Compensation rollover claims.
• Failure to notify Human Resources when an injured worker will no longer be able to return to his/her usual job could create Americans with Disabilities Act liabilities and responsibilities for corporations.