Program Details
2026-09-30 12:00:00
Over 1,000+ webinars
Course Overview
2026-09-30 12:00:00
2h CLE Credits
Intermediate
2
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm ESTThis session will cover best practices for handling the interactive process and undue hardship analysis in ADA mental health accommodation cases arising from return-to-office mandates. Attendees will learn how to establish essential job functions and how the Second Circuit’s Tudor v. Whitehall decision shifts the analysis beyond essential-function performance. The session will also focus on best practices for handling requests for remote work in this post-pandemic era. Attorneys will acquire solid strategies for defending claims of discrimination and retaliation and developing a record of evidence that can be used in support of summary judgment. Attorneys will leave with concrete record-building checklists for litigation, deposition strategy, and interactive-process documentation in mental-health accommodation disputes.
Melissa M. Pesce 1:10 pm - 2:10 pm ESTThis session equips attorneys with the current doctrinal framework and litigation strategy for ADA mental-health failure-to-accommodate claims arising from return-to-office mandates, covering prima facie elements and circuit splits, recent circuit and district court decisions, and the evidentiary impact of pandemic-era remote-work history. Attorneys will learn how to plead and defend claims involving delay in the interactive process, the scope of the ‘qualified individual’ standard after Tudor v. Whitehall, and the distinction between prospective accommodation requests and impermissible ‘do-over’ demands. Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of mental-health accommodation disputes.
Kellee Boulais KruseMelissa M. Pesce is a shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ St. Louis office who focuses on employment law and litigation. She advises and represents employers on discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, leaves of absence, workplace accommodations, trade secrets, drug testing, and multistate employment compliance. She has more than 20 years of litigation experience in federal and state courts.
Kellee Boulais Kruse is a principal at The Employment Law Group, P.C. in Washington, D.C., where she represents private-sector and federal employees in civil rights matters, with a particular focus on discrimination, retaliation, and accommodation disputes. Earlier employment inside a federal agency — where she encountered civil rights violations firsthand — led her to the law and gives her an insider perspective on the federal-employee experience.
Melissa M. Pesce is a shareholder in Ogletree Deakins’ St. Louis office who focuses on employment law and litigation. She advises and represents employers on discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, leaves of absence, workplace accommodations, trade secrets, drug testing, and multistate employment compliance. She has more than 20 years of litigation experience in federal and state courts.
Kellee Boulais Kruse is a principal at The Employment Law Group, P.C. in Washington, D.C., where she represents private-sector and federal employees in civil rights matters, with a particular focus on discrimination, retaliation, and accommodation disputes. Earlier employment inside a federal agency — where she encountered civil rights violations firsthand — led her to the law and gives her an insider perspective on the federal-employee experience.
Requirements
The Alabama State Bar MCLE Commission requires attorneys to complete 12 credits, including 1 ethics, by December 31 of each year. All credits must be reported by February 15 of the following year. A maximum of 12 credits, including 1 ethics credit, may be carried over for 1 year only.
Formats
