The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) generally requires employers to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled employees so that they can perform the essential duties of their jobs. This is not news. But what if no feasible accommodation can be identified in an employee’s existing position? Employers are often uncertain about whether they must offer reassignment
transfer
Appellate Court Holds that ADA Does Not Require Reassignment Without Competition
By Tasos C. Paindiris & Paul Patten on
Posted in ADA
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suffered a setback in its attempt to establish that the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires an employer to reassign an employee to an available position without having to compete with other candidates for that position. In EEOC v. St. Joseph’s Hospital, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals…
Does a Rule Prohibiting Employees with Discipline From Transferring Violate the ADA?
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
Must an employer bend its rule prohibiting an employee with discipline from transferring to another position as a reasonable accommodation if the request to transfer is due to a disability?
We posted recently about a case where an employer denied an employee’s request to telecommute or relocate his office for a medical reason because he…
Refusal to Try Respirator Takes the Air Out of ADA Accommodation Claim
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
A lab worker with health problems as a result of her work with a solvent submitted the following request for an accommodation: “Avoid any type of work where she would have exposure to organic solvents. Transfer to another line of work. Avoidance of irritants.”
The employer denied the request but offered the plaintiff a full…
Denying Request to Change Worksite Supports ADA Constructive Discharge Claim
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
A plaintiff’s claim that she was constructively discharged because her employer refused to transfer her to an office closer to the place where she received therapy to deal with the pain caused by her arthritis has survived her employer’s motion to dismiss.
The plaintiff worked in the home office of a child welfare agency. She…
Relying on Poor Performance Caused by Disability to Deny ADA Accommodation “Troubling”; Turns “Reasonable Accommodation on its Head”
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
To what extent may an employer deny a requested accommodation because of on an employee’s poor performance which is caused by a disability?
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York denied an employee’s request to telecommute or to relocate his office to a different Fed building because the employee had been rated as “below standards” in…
Last Word on Accommodation of Last Resort Yet To Be Spoken
By Jackson Lewis P.C. on
Posted in ADA
When an employee cannot perform the essential functions of his or her position, with or without an accommodation, due to a disability, an employer must consider “the accommodation of last resort”—transfer to a vacant lateral or lower position for which the employee is qualified.
The circuit courts have split on whether an individual with a…