Offering Practical Guidance to Employers
Arriving to work on time might not be an essential function if the late employee would still be able to complete his work in a timely manner, according to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. McMillan v. City of New York (2nd Cir. March 4, 2013).
The plaintiff, a case manager for NYC’s Human Resources…
Sometimes common sense seems to provide the answer to an “essential function” question, but not always. For example, we posted recently about a case where the issue was whether hearing was an essential function of a lifeguard position. Common sense may suggest the answer is “of course” but then we noted that the lifeguard with…
Is a deaf person qualified to be a wave pool lifeguard? Before answering, consider that the lifeguard holding the record for most “saves”–more than 900–is Leroy Columbo, who was a deaf man.
In Keith v. County of Oakland (6h Cir. January 10, 2013), the plaintiff, deaf since birth, had completed the County’s lifeguard training…
We posted recently about an Eighth Circuit decision in which the court held that rotating shifts was an essential function because “[i]f [plaintiff] were switched to a straight day shift and not required to work the rotating shift, then other Resource Coordinators would have to work more night and weekend shifts.”
Another court has…
Recall our post concerning the claims of the acrophobic bridge worker and incontinent court reporter that rotating through job assignments was not an essential function of their jobs. Now comes a “Resource Coordinator” seeking a straight day shift as an accommodation to her disability and claims that working rotating shifts is not an essential function…
Whether and to what extent attendance is an essential job function is perhaps the most vexing ADA issue. In Samper v. Providence St. Vincent Medical Center (9th Cir April 11, 2012), the plaintiff, an ICU neo-natal nurse with fibromyalgia, asked to “opt out” of the employer’s unplanned absence policy as an accommodation.
In a remarkably refreshing…
Recall the incontinent court reporter. She had a steady assignment compatible with her medical condition until the chief judge required court reporters to rotate through all courtrooms. In the lawsuit challenging the court reporter’s termination, the court held that rotating was an essential function of the court reporter’s job and because she could not do…
Recall the incontinent court reporter, hired as a control room specialist, a position compatible with her medical condition, but whose job changed when the chief judge decided to evenly distribute the workload, and required all court reporters to rotate through all courtrooms. In ADA parlance, the court changed the essential functions of the court…
Many reasonable accommodation cases are resolved in court but a court is not usually the defendant. But such was the case when a court reporter sued the Office of the Chief Judges of various Illinois circuit courts for failing to accommodate her incontinence.
