Tag: Reasonable Accommodation

US Appeals Court Finds Part-Time Work Is Not a Reasonable Accommodation The 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that an employee who struggles with anxiety resulting in frequent absence from their job did not actually qualify for the job, and the request from the employee to be accommodated by working only half days is not considered a request for a reasonable accommodation. Additionally, the employee's retaliation claim was barred because the employee did not provide evidence of pretext regarding her former employer's reason for ending their employment for excessive absences. The plaintiff, in this case, was a case manager working for a law firm, and the job involved working 40 hours a week. The plaintiff received paid time off of 120 hours each year. The law firm's policy stated that if an employee has more than 120 hours of time off, consequences could involve termination. The plaintiff did not exceed 120 hours of paid time off in 2015. However, they were warned about their attendance. The plaintiff in the case was absent from work for 133.5 hours from January through June of 2016. The plaintiff went over the 120-hour allotment within a period of 30 workdays. The plaintiff gave the employer a letter in May 2016 obtained from her counselor that recommended the plaintiff work half days during times in which she had problems with intense anxiety since she had received a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks. The law firm denied the plaintiff's request. The law firm told the plaintiff on June 3rd, 2016, that they expected them to work 40 hours each week. They also informed the plaintiff that they were not staying up to date on their work assignments. However, the employer did offer the plaintiff a week of unpaid leave. The plaintiff sued the law firm claiming discrimination and retaliation against them, which violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The law firm was granted their motion for summary judgment for the plaintiff's claim that the law firm did not accommodate their disability and that it retaliated against them for asking for accommodation and for their previous absence related to anxiety. When the case was appealed, the plaintiff claimed the summary judgment was granted in error. The court affirmed the lower court's finding that when using the burden-shifting framework to evaluate the claim of a failure to accommodate, the plaintiff did not show that they were qualified for their job. The court used a two-part analysis to consider whether or not the plaintiff was qualified for their job. The first part of the analysis was considering whether or not the plaintiff could perform the job's essential functions. The second part of the analysis considered whether providing any reasonable accommodation would allow the plaintiff to perform the necessary functions of the job. The court found that the plaintiff could not fulfill the job's essential functions due to excessive absences. Additionally, the court decided that working half days was not a reasonable accommodation because it would not allow the plaintiff to fulfill the job's essential functions. The court found that since the plaintiff did not qualify for their job, the argument that the law firm needed to find alternative accommodations failed. An employer does not need to engage with an employee to find alternative accommodations if the employee is not qualified for the job. Additionally, the court upheld the summary dismissal of the plaintiff's claim of retaliation since the court did not find any evidence of pretext. Also, the court held that they found no indication that the client had intended a claim of independent disparate-treatment under the ADA even though she briefly mentioned it along with her other claims. Source Stay updated on all the new compliance rules with Pre-employs free news resources on FCRA, EEOC, and more Contact a Sales Rep today for more information.

Tag: Reasonable Accommodation

US Appeals Court Finds Part-Time Work Is Not a Reasonable Accommodation

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