The Fifth Circuit recently found in favor of the City of Austin for firing a disabled employee because he did not attempt to perform his new lighter-duty job in good faith. After the employee was injured on the job, the city offered him an administrative position as an accommodation because he could not perform manual labor required by his prior job.
The employee accepted the new job, but began missing work, played computer games and surfed internet, slept on the job, made personal phone calls and applied for other positions within the city while at work. He also refused to participate in any training that would have helped him perform his new job.
After he was fired, he sued the city alleging discrimination based on disability and failure to provide him with reasonable accommodation. The Fifth Circuit found no discrimination and emphasized that “terminating an employee whose performance is unsatisfactory according to management’s business judgment is legitimate and nondiscriminatory as a matter of law.” It further explained the boundaries of the interactive process between an employer and an employee who requests an accommodation for his disability.
Once an employee requests an accommodation based on a disability, the employer and employee must work together in good faith, back and forth, to find a reasonable accommodation. The process does not end with the first offer of accommodation but continues when the employee asks for a different accommodation or where the employer is aware that the initial accommodation is failing and further accommodation is needed. Thus, the process is a two-way street. In this case, once the employee accepted an administrative position, he had to make an honest effort to learn and carry out the duties of his new job with the help of the training that his employer had offered to him. He certainly had an obligation not to engage in misconduct at work. Once he had shown no desire to try to succeed in that position, the city had no duty to offer him another job. After all, the ADA provides a right to reasonable accommodation, not the employee’s preferred accommodation.
Takeaway: When an employee requests a reasonable accommodation due to disability, the employer must engage in an interactive process with that employee to determine what reasonable accommodation will help the employee perform his or her duties. Employers should always document the process so that they have proof of engaging in it in good faith. Employees should also engage in the process in good faith, which means that if an accommodation is granted to them, they should try to take advantage of it. At the end of the day, an employer is required to provide a reasonable accommodation, but not necessarily the accommodation requested by the employee.
Leiza is a business and employment attorney in Dallas, Texas. If you need assistance with a business or employment dispute contact Leiza for a confidential consultation at Leiza.Dolghih@lewisbrisbois.com or (214) 722-7108.