Dropped connection – Telecom employee’s ADA claims get hung up in court

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Abstract: Sometimes, even when an employer offers an ostensibly reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the employee in question isn’t satisfied. This article discusses a case in which a company only partly accommodated an employee’s request for a time shift change, claiming that meeting the request in full would violate seniority rules under a collective bargaining agreement. The appeals court concluded that the company’s accommodation met the standards for being “reasonable” under the ADA, but a sidebar cites a different case indicating that an employer who has made exceptions to a seniority rule in the past should be prepared to do so again as a reasonable accommodation. Hamedl v. Verizon, No. 12-4101-cv, Feb. 20, 2014 (2nd Cir.) U.S. Airways v. Barnett, No. 00-1250, April 29, 2002 (Supreme Court)