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As the push to return to the office continues, many workers have started to panic as going back to headquarters threatens a new way of life they've grown accustomed to over the past two years. This poses even greater challenges to individuals with disabilities, who are wary of coming back to buildings that weren't designed with their needs in mind in the first place.

But not everyone is going down (or going back) without a fight.

Over 62,000 workforce discrimination charges were filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) during the pandemic. About 66% of these were disability charges, with employees claiming that their company broke the Americans with Disabilities Act.

While the number of charges filed with the EEOC has been lower than usual during the pandemic, experts are expecting an increase in lawsuits on the horizon. And companies that have been remote for the past two years might find themselves in trouble when defending the necessity of their new, in-person protocols.

When it comes to employees seeking to continue to work from home due to mental or physical health concerns, “it's hard [for employers] to say that’s not a reasonable accommodation when you've been doing that for 18 months,” says Christian Antkowiak, co-chair of Buchanan’s Labor, Employment, Benefits and Immigration department.

“This is...

Read Full Story: https://fortune.com/2022/04/14/lawyers-expect-an-increase-in-eeoc-lawsuits-as...