The ADA: Required reading in the fitness for duty field

William D. Goren | William D. Goren JD LLM LLC

William D. Goren, Esq., of William D. Goren, J.D., LL.M. LLC in Decatur, GA, has been dealing with the ADA as an Attorney since 1990. His law and consulting practice, https:/ www.understandingtheada.com/, as well as his blog, Understanding the ADA, (an ABA Top 100 for five consecutive years during the last five years of the award, 2014-2018), all focus on understanding the ADA so that the client understands what it means to comply with that law and related laws. In particular, he provides consulting, counseling, representation, and training services involving compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and related laws- such as the Air Carrier Access Act and the Fair Housing Act-, among others.

Mr. Goren also brings a deep, personal understanding of what it means to have a disability, equipping him with exceptional insight on how the ADA actually works. He is deaf with a congenital bilateral hearing loss of 70–120+ decibels, but functions entirely in the hearing world thanks to hearing aids, Bluetooth technology, automatic speech recognition, and lip- reading. For reasons independent of his deafness, he also uses voice dictation technology to access his computer.

He is also a frequent presenter, a trained mediator, a FINRA arbitrator (Chairperson eligible), and an arbitrator on the CPR employment panel. Finally, he is the author of Understanding the ADA, now in its 4th edition (ABA 2013), and numerous other articles on the rights of persons with disabilities. He is and has been a member of various committees of the American Bar Association, including: Legal Technology Resource Center Board (2017-2023); ABA Law Practice Section Client Development and Marketing Committee; ABA Law Practice Section Ethics and Professionalism Committee and the ABA’s Law Practice Section DEI committee. He is also a member of various committees of the Federal Bar Association, including: the Federal Bar Association (FBA) Diversity and Inclusion committee; the FBA’s Civil Rights section and its Governing Board; FBA’s Civil Rights Amicus committee; and since 2022, the Chair of the FBA’s Disability Best Practices Working Group. In the first year of the Disability Best Practices Working Group, it formulated an accessibility manual for the FBA and its chapters. In the second year of the committee, it will be bringing out an accessibility manual that federal courts can use to help ensure that their courtrooms are accessible for persons with disabilities.

He is also a member of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Bar Association. He has an A.B. from Vassar College, a J.D. from University of San Diego School of Law, and was one of the first in the entire country to receive the LL.M. in Health Law, in his case from DePaul University College of Law. Interesting fact: He trained his miniature poodle to be a hearing dog while he practices virtually.

Robert S. Emmons | Williston, Vermont

Robert S. Emmons, M.D., practices as a psychiatric psychotherapist in Williston, Vermont. He has worked as an expert evaluating physician fitness for duty since 2013. He is licensed to practice medicine in Vermont, and he teaches regularly in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine, as a Clinical Associate Professor. Contact: [email protected].

I. Ensuring the Independence of Evaluators from Referral Sources Hostile to Evaluees’ | 11:00am – 11:15am

II. Limiting The Scope of Inquiry in Order to Meet ADA Requirements | 11:15am – 11:30am

III. Framing Referral Questions for Experts in Order to Protect the Integrity of The Evaluation Process | 11:30am – 11:40am

IV. How Does the ADA Defines Disability | 11:40am – 12:00pm

Break | 12:00pm – 12:10pm

V. Critical Distinction Between Who Is a Qualified Person with A Disability in Title I V. Title II | 12:10pm – 12:25pm

VI. Unnecessary Medical Inquiries and How That Varies from Title I V. Title II-III | 12:25pm – 12:40pm

VII. Important Distinctions When Dealing with the ADA Concept of Direct Threat | 12:40pm – 12:55pm

VIII. Why Licensing Counsel Failing to Utilize the ADA Is a Legal Malpractice Suit Waiting to Happen | 12:55pm – 1:10pm