Assistant Manager Denied Modified Schedule Advances Failure to Accommodate, Leave Interference Claims
June 26, 2018
Because there were genuine fact disputes as to whether working the "standard schedule" was an essential function of a meat department assistant manager position, an employee's disability-related claims could go forward. His requested accommodation of leaving work each day by 2:30 p.m. deviated from the normal schedule, but the schedule was not included in his written job description and there was evidence that he had performed the job successfully for two years while working a schedule fairly close to his requested schedule. The court rejected the employer's argument that by providing the employee with Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave, it had reasonably accommodated him under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), explaining that an employee may be entitled to both an ADA reasonable accommodation and FMLA leave. The employee's FMLA interference claim also could advance because there was a fact dispute as to what leave the employee was actually granted.
