Employers must tread carefully when adopting a workplace wellness program, Ballard Spahr attorney Elisabeth Blattner-Thompson said, in light of a recent expansion of the Americans With Disabilities Act that changes the concept of what constitutes a disability.
“In one sense, you could say that smoking is not a disability,” Ms. Blattner-Thompson said. “But what about nicotine addiction? It has been shown that addiction can be a disease. And what about a heavier person? Do they have a disability?”