Latest news with #ADA
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Aon fired employee with ADHD who wanted to work in the office full time, lawsuit alleges
This story was originally published on HR Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily HR Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: Professional services firm Aon allegedly fired an employee because she has attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, after she requested and received an accommodation to work in the office, according to a July 23 lawsuit. Per the complaint in Gomez v. Aon Private Risk Management Insurance Agency, Inc., the employee worked as an account specialist. She alleged that a recruiter told her she could work in the office full time to accommodate her ADHD, but after she was hired, she was allegedly informed the role was mostly remote and full-time in-office work wasn't possible. Because of her ADHD, the employee had trouble performing and learning effectively, she alleged. She emailed her manager, who allegedly told her this may not be a 'fit environment' for her, and placed her on a performance improvement plan. She formally requested an accommodation but was fired shortly after the request was approved and she began working in the office, the lawsuit said. Dive Insight: The employee filed her claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act, alleging she experienced discrimination and harassment and was ultimately fired due to her ADHD. She also claimed she was initially denied a reasonable accommodation and retaliated against because she asked for one. Aon did not respond to a request for a comment. Compliance issues surrounding reasonable accommodation are always evolving, even as the ADA marks its 35th anniversary. Remote work, or 'telework,' stands out as an example, although the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has long recognized it as a reasonable accommodation, according to an EEOC guidance. While the Aon lawsuit offers a twist — the employee alleged she was discriminated against because she requested an accommodation to work in the office, not remotely — the best practices for staying ADA compliant are the same. One critical step is for the employer and the employee to engage in an 'interactive process,' so the employer can understand why an accommodation is needed and what alternatives are possible if the request poses an undue hardship, the EEOC explains. A $22.1 million jury award in July 2024 against Wells Fargo shows how costly it can be to deny a request without engaging in an interactive process or fully exploring the issues. In the Wells Fargo case, a director asked for an accommodation to work from home because his impairment required frequent and quick access to a restroom. His managers allegedly eliminated his role before the matter was resolved. The judge determined there was a dispute over whether Wells Fargo engaged in 'genuine discourse' about the employee's request and said it would have to be resolved by a jury. Employers should also keep in mind that, while allowing an employee to change work locations can be a reasonable accommodation, they may have to modify a work rule or policy for this to happen, EEOC's guidance points out. This issue arose a few years ago, when three City of Berkeley, California, commission members asked to attend meetings remotely from their homes to accommodate their disabilities. The city said they could, but allegedly only if they publicly listed their home address as a meeting place and let the public inside to attend, ostensibly because of a state rule. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Berkeley for violating the ADA. Under the settlement, the city changed its policy to allow the requirements to be waived for disability-related concerns. In the Aon case, the employee said she explained to her manager that her ADHD kept her from performing to her full potential because she was working from home. She twice asked for an accommodation to work in the office full time, but the requests were denied, and she was allegedly told the policy only allowed her to work in the office one day a week. She then submitted a formal request and submitted medical documentation. Although the request was approved, and her performance allegedly improved, she was still fired, the lawsuit said. Recommended Reading The ADA at 30: A landmark civil rights law that still has room to grow Sign in to access your portfolio
ABC News
2 hours ago
- Health
- ABC News
Dental habits of Australian families laid bare with survey showing one in five kids forgoing twice-daily brushing
Most Australian parents are unaware of when to take their children to the dentist for the first time and many underestimate the importance of caring for baby teeth, a new survey has found. The Australian Dental Association (ADA) poll of 25,000 adults has laid bare the dental habits of Australian families, finding one in five children only clean their teeth once a day. It found 87 per cent of parents are aware fruit juice leads to tooth decay, yet 27 per cent of children still drink it every day. Almost four in 10 children also have soft drink two to five times a week. While 68 per cent of children brush twice a day, the survey revealed more than three-quarters fail to floss themselves — or have adults do it for them. That's despite dentists recommending daily flossing for children from when they have two or more baby teeth side by side. Tasmanian-based ADA president Chris Sanzaro said one in three children visited a dentist for the first time when they were experiencing problems with their teeth. "That's later than it really should be," Dr Sanzaro said. "We should be getting children into the dentist before the age of one or when their first tooth erupts into the mouth, whichever happens first. "To some people that may seem a bit young. But it helps introduce the infant to the sights, sounds and sensations of the dentist, as well as helping to spot any issues early." The survey found four in 10 Australian adults believe children having their first dental visit at two years old is acceptable, while 20 per cent think it should be at age three and 10 per cent believe age four or older is appropriate. Only 25 per cent thought age one or younger is the best option. Dr Sanzaro said the survey, conducted in November and December 2024, highlighted a lack of parental understanding of the importance of baby teeth. "They're there not only to allow them to smile and chew and function effectively, but they're also space holders for adult teeth," he told the ABC. "When we get a hole into a baby tooth and it expands to the point where we can't save the tooth anymore, it needs extraction. "Once that tooth's out, that space can close up and it can cause more crowding in the adult teeth and lead to the need for orthodontic treatment later on." Three-quarters of the women surveyed failed to have a dental check-up before conception, despite the link between poor oral health in pregnancy and low birth weight and pre-term babies. Paige O'Brien's six-year-old daughter Charlotte had five stainless steel crowns fitted to her back molars last year after complaining of a "sharp tooth". "She had actually quite a bit of decay and cavities in her teeth," Ms O'Brien said. "I was definitely surprised to see how much had sort of developed, being that she was so young." Ms O'Brien said while Charlotte's teeth were brushed in the morning, they only cleaned them "every now and then" at night. Charlotte, who sees a dentist in Albury, NSW, was drinking fruit juice often after a doctor recommended it for her as a toddler with bad symptoms of constipation. "We just stuck with it, she liked it, and it tasted good, so we just kept on with the juice and that created some problems," Ms O'Brien said. Armed with more knowledge, Charlotte's dental routine is now much more extensive. "The more we can do to help her, the better," Ms O'Brien said. She was able to access the federal government's Child Dental Benefits Schedule to help pay for Charlotte's treatment, which allows parents to claim up to $1,132 for each eligible child over two consecutive calendar years. Queensland Children's Hospital dentist Gregory Ooi said he frequently treated children with dental caries, the medical term for tooth decay, particularly those from lower socio-economic areas. "It's a very common chronic health disease in children and adults — probably the most common," the specialist paediatric said. "I certainly don't think it's improving. "It doesn't feel like we're making big inroads. It costs the public system and private system … millions and millions of dollars a year for what's largely preventable disease." Dr Ooi said dental decay was caused by plaque, a sticky film of bacteria on teeth, that was not effectively being removed. "Generally speaking, if a person is to have sugar more than four times a day and not clean the plaque off effectively, they will usually get some sort of decay on their teeth," the Brisbane-based dentist said. The survey was mostly conducted as online interviews but 1,500 Australians aged more than 65 without internet access were surveyed on the telephone. Phone and online surveys were offered in languages including Arabic, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Hindi, and Punjabi in addition to English.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Road work coming to Illinois 251 starting Aug.4. Here's how it affects drivers
Work on Illinois 251 in Rockford and Loves Park is scheduled to begin Aug. 4, weather permitting. The Illinois Department of Transportation planned to resurface and repair a section of Illinois 251 from Whitman Street in Rockford to Snow Avenue in Loves Park, including a portion of Forest Hills Road to Landstrom Road, according to a community announcement. The project is expected to include patching, milling, resurfacing, ADA sidewalk improvements and retaining wall repairs. Staged construction is planned, with two lanes of traffic open in each direction throughout the project. Center lane work will take place at night. The $7.6 million project is expected to be completed by Nov. 15, according to the announcement. Drivers are urged to pay attention to changed conditions, obey posted speed limits, avoid mobile device use and watch for workers and equipment in the work zone. According to the announcement, over the next six years, the Illinois Department of Transportation plans to improve more than 3,200 miles of highway and nearly 9 million square feet of bridge deck as part of Rebuild Illinois, a $33.2 billion investment in transportation. Updates are available on X at @IDOTDistrict2 and This story was created by reporter Abreanna Blose, ablose@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Night work, lane shifts and sidewalk fixes coming to Illinois 251 Solve the daily Crossword
Medscape
4 hours ago
- Health
- Medscape
The QWINT Program: Once-Weekly Insulin Efsitora
This transcript has been edited for clarity. Akshay Jain, MD: Greetings from Chicago. I'm Akshay Jain, endocrinologist from Vancouver, Canada. Joining us at the ADA 85th Scientific Sessions today, we've got a very special guest, Dr Athena Philis-Tsimikas, who is the corporate vice president at Scripps in San Diego. Welcome. Athena Philis-Tsimikas, MD: Thank you so much. Happy to be here. Jain: Dr Philis-Tsimikas is one of the lead investigators of the QWINT trial, looking at new basal insulin efsitora alfa. What do you think is the need to have another new insulin? Philis-Tsimikas: It's a good question, because we have so many amazing new drugs that have come out and that we're seeing here at the ADA this year. Despite that, we know that there are over 800 million people with diabetes across the world, just recently published, and that means that there's still going to be many people that require insulin. We know that about 50%-25% of people will still, at some point, require insulin. I do think that insulin remains relevant, and we need to have new ways to deliver and really make it easier for people to take insulin. Jain: That makes sense. Despite all the new medications, insulin's not going anywhere. It's still going to be the backbone for many people requiring optimal diabetes management. Tell us about the QWINT program. What are the studies talking about, and what are they evaluating? Philis-Tsimikas: The QWINT programs are interesting and exciting. You said it's a basal insulin, but it's actually a once-weekly basal insulin. As opposed to the once daily that we've had for a long time and newer once dailies that were longer, this now takes us even longer. Insulin efsitora was tested in the QWINT trials. It was tested in people naive to insulin, people already on insulin, and in type 1 diabetes— so both type 2 and type 1 diabetes — and looking to see if it was noninferior to daily basal insulin and even if it was superior. Jain: That's great. What did the study show? Philis-Tsimikas: I was the lead author on QWINT-3, which was a basal insulin switch trial. For people already coming in on basal insulin, we switched them to go to either efsitora or degludec. At the end of 26 weeks, we showed that it was noninferior. They had a lowering of their A1c from about 7.8% down to about 7%. It was noninferior. They did not show superiority, but what an amazing finding to know that you could take insulin just once a week and still get your A1c down to just below 7%. Jain: Remarkable ability to drop the injection burden, going from 365 shots a year to just 52 shots a year. That's really uplifting. Where I work in Canada, we've got access to insulin icodec, which is a once-weekly insulin, and that is also helping improve patient outcomes. We are moving forward with our ability to give basal insulin with fewer shots. In your studies, were there any patient reported outcomes that were evaluated? Philis-Tsimikas: There were. We did look at satisfaction questionnaires. Satisfaction questionnaires came out better for those who were on once-weekly insulin efsitora. In addition, we also looked at patient safety, so we wanted to make sure that, while you're getting to those better A1cs, do you really have no difference in hypoglycemia? It did show that — for combined nocturnal, both level 2 and level 3 outcomes — there was no difference in terms of the hypoglycemia rates. Jain: That's a really important thing. One very interesting thing that I saw at the presentation yesterday on the QWINT-1 study is that they looked at level 1 hypoglycemia. Do you want to share some of the results with our audience about that? Philis-Tsimikas: Sure. QWINT-1 was a very interesting study because it gave a fixed dose of this basal once-weekly insulin at intervals of every 4 weeks. If you needed an incremental increase, it increased from 100 to 150, to 250, up to 400. Despite having this fixed-dose adjustment, there was no increase in the level 1 or the level 2/level 3 combined hypoglycemia episodes. It's interesting because in all the other trials of once-weekly insulin, level 1 with icodec and efsitora, both were slightly more elevated in those groups. It's very interesting that in the fixed-dose implementation we did not see that difference. Jain: I think that's remarkable. The safety is very important. It's paramount. Also, it gives more confidence to primary care, especially those who are a little shy of starting insulin. Now, one thing that I'd love to talk to you about is the loading dose concept. This is not something that one is aware of when you are using daily basil insulin. Can you tell us about the need for doing this loading and what exactly the loading entails? Philis-Tsimikas: Right, absolutely. This was found in both the icodec and the efsitora studies that we did. Because this has a very long half-life and it takes a while to get up to a steady state, we do need to give a one-time only starting dose. With efsitora, it was three times what the calculated weekly dose was. You take your daily dose, multiply it by seven to get your weekly dose, and then by three for that one-time starting dose. Icodec was similar in that you had to take it times seven, but then one and a half times, so you gave a 50% extra dose. That starting dose allows you to get up a little bit faster so that you don't run higher blood sugars during that first 2-3-week time period. Jain: That's excellent. The other very interesting thing that I saw about the QWINT-1 study was that 76% of individuals were able to get to a dose with this fixed-dose regimen without requiring more than 400 units a week. It doesn't require too much for that flexible dosing aspect. Do you want to share a little bit more about that? Philis-Tsimikas: I think that was absolutely an interesting part. The fact that you can manage the majority of patients with just this one insulin injection once a week without having to then further titrate in a very detailed way that can be difficult for the patient and the provider, right? So, 76% of the time is remarkable. Jain: I think one thing to also note is that, as clinicians, we are always aware that it's a marathon, not a sprint, right? Sooner or later, as long as you're up-titrating, you'll get to the target range. With the QWINT-1 protocol, for the first month, you're continuing to stay on 100 units. I think it's important to reassure the patients that we will be going up in a gradual manner, so that they're not too worried that the sugar's not coming down that quickly. Philis-Tsimikas: Absolutely. If you think about it, for someone who's insulin naive, that's where they've been running. It might not even make a difference for them. Jain: Exactly. Philis-Tsimikas: For someone who's been on insulin that we're switching over, that might make a little bit of a difference but certainly not for that insulin-naive population. Jain: Any final pearls of wisdom that you want to give to our audience? Philis-Tsimikas: Maybe just that for our patients who were on the study, they were all incredibly happy to be able to convert over to this once-weekly dose. Many did not want to stop, and they're all looking forward to seeing when once-weekly insulin will be available — in the United States, at least. I know you are lucky to have it in Canada and other places in Europe. We're looking forward to it in the United States as well. Jain: Thank you so much for joining us, Dr Philis-Tsimikas. Philis-Tsimikas: Thank you so much.
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Amid plot demand surge, UP Housing Board fast-tracks major projects in Ayodhya
With demand for plots and houses surging after the inauguration of the Ram Mandir, the Uttar Pradesh Housing and Development Board has decided to fast-track all housing projects in Ayodhya, officials said. The move comes with the demand for plots and houses surging after the inauguration of the Ram Mandir. (Sourced) The move is part of a broader development plan aimed at improving living standards and easing congestion in the old city. The Board has asked the Ayodhya Development Authority (ADA) to expedite the acquisition of 1,400 acres for various housing projects, they said. Among them is the Vasisth Kunj phase-2 which will come up on the Ayodhya-Basti road. Online applications for phase-one of the project are already over. Now, the Board wants to expedite the second phase of the project for which land has to be acquired, officials added. Vasisth Kunj is a mega housing project in Ayodhya, which includes both residential and commercial plots. The project is coming up on NH -27 in Firozpur Uparhar. The Board has also asked ADA to submit a detailed report of 27 projects, including Sita Rasoi. P Guru Prasad, principal secretary, housing and urban planning, has asked ADA to expedite the Green Field Township project. This mega township project proposed in 1,800 acres is considered to be one of the most ambitious projects of the state government in Ayodhya. The Housing and Development Board has also decided to help those hoteliers who are not able to purchase land directly from farmers for their projects. Prasad has directed ADA to them in acquiring land from farmers, officials said. The temple town is set for 873 square-km expansion under phase-2 of the Ayodhya Master Plan- 2031 with the inclusion of 343 villages from Ayodhya, Basti and Gonda districts. According to ADA, the phase-2 of the Master Plan 2031 covers 873 square km, including Ayodhya Nagar Nigam, Bhadarsa Nagar Panchayat and Nawabganj Nagar Palika Parishad (Gonda), along with 154 villages from Ayodhya, 126 from Basti, and 63 from Gonda. According to Ashwini Pandey, vice-chairman of ADA, the plan has been prepared by taking into account the estimated population of Ayodhya in 2031 which is likely to be 14 lakh.
