Steer clear of assumptions on medical issues.

She's pregnant, so she can't work in the warehouse ... He had a heart attack, we should take him off any stressful tasks.

Managers' decisions like these, while well meaning, could trigger expensive liability. That's because the EEOC is aggressively going after employers that single out disabled workers based on unfounded assumptions about the kind of work they can and cannot do.

Employers are supposed to individually assess each disabled employee or candidate to determine whether they can perform the essential functions of their jobs, with or without a reasonable accommodation.

Key point: That process should start with an employee's request for assistance. If someone simply says she has a medical issue and the employer decides erroneously that she cannot do the job, that's grounds for an ADA lawsuit.

As new statistics show, the most common ADA-related claims filed with the EEOC in 2019 came from employees/applicants who said they suffered adverse action at work because the company "regarded" them as disabled, whether they were or not (see chart below).

Recent case: Soon after Angela arrived at her new job as pipefitter, she revealed to her boss that she had epilepsy but it was well-controlled by medications.

Without inquiring further, the supervisor concluded she could not safely work at heights, so he fired her...