ADA may apply to work schedules

In previous articles, we have noted that at the heart of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is the obligation of employers to provide reasonable accommodations to help disabled employees perform the essential functions of the job.

Typically, the accommodations take place inside the workplace. The accommodation addresses the work environment or the manner by which the employee performs the job.

A recent case seems to expand this general rule. An employee worked part-time on weekdays from 5 to 9 p.m. She was diagnosed with a vision problem, which eventually left her blind in one eye.

She informed her supervisor that the partial blindness made the drive to work at night dangerous and difficult for her. She asked to be switched to a day shift (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.) so  she could drive to work safely. Public transportation was not an option because the buses stopped running at 6 p.m. in that area.

The employee was told that her shift would not be changed because it wouldn't be fair to the other employees. At that point, the employee began to rely on relatives to drive her to work, even though she said it was a hardship for her family to do it.

Did the employer have to agree to move the employee to a different shift? The reason would be to permit her to drive to work, not to perform the work when she arrived.

In the reported case, the court held for the employee. It held that the issue was not commuting to work. Rather, the court found that changing the employee's work schedule to a day shift was, in fact, the type of accommodation contemplated by the ADA.

The court pointed to language within the ADA in which the term "reasonable accommodation" is defined to specifically include modified work schedules. The court held that under certain circumstances, the ADA can obligate an employer to accommodate an employee's disability-related difficulties in getting to work, if reasonable.

This case extends the reach of the ADA's reasonable accommodation requirement, perhaps to an extent not required. We will keep track of any additional cases which appear to involve accommodations to get an employee to work.

Opinions are solely the writer's. James Jorgensen practices law at Hoeppner Wagner & Evans in Valparaiso.