Please help me us this!!! I seriously need help and i dnt understand You are the
ID: 369483 • Letter: P
Question
Please help me us this!!! I seriously need help and i dnt understand
You are the manager for a large warehouse that does order fulfillment for an online company. Your employees spend their days moving up and down the aisles, retrieving goods for shipment to customers. They must move very quickly and efficiently to retrieve items and bring them back to the shipping desk. Although they are not required to run, employees always end up running up and down the aisles at some point during the day, because their daily quotas are set very high to insure maximum efficiency. You worked on the floor yourself before becoming manager, and you can't imagine being able to walk fast enough to complete the daily quotas.
One day, an employee comes to you with a letter from her doctor. The letter says that, due to a bulging disc in her back, she cannot do any high impact activities such as running or jumping. However, she is able to walk.
When you tell the employee you are concerned that she will not be able to meet her quotas without running, your employee says you shouldn't worry. "I can run a little," she says. "My doctor is just being really protective. But I would like you to change my route in the warehouse so I can run less."
There is one shorter route in the warehouse that a senior employee is typically given that does involve less running, though you've never seen an employee make their quotas here without any running.
You need to decide whether to grant your employee's request and give her the accommodation she has requested.
1) Assuming that the employee's back condition qualifies as a disability, what is the standard (rule) for determining whether she should be given the accommodation she requests?
2) Is this a reasonable accommodation? Based on Horn v. Knight Facilities, do you think your factory would be required to provide the employee the shorter route in the warehouse?
Explanation / Answer
1.As per American Disability Act, ADA employer can provide the reasonable accommodation to a disabled employee on request. When the employees back condition qualifies as a disability, the employer can ask the employee for reasonable documentation regarding the disability and limitations. Employer can ask for documentation from an appropriate healthcare professional. The information would help to understand the type of disability and the functional limitations on doing work. According to the disability job restructuring can be done so that the employee can perform their duties crossing the workplace barriers.
2. It is the type of disability and its affect on work that determines whether it is reasonable accommodation. From the Horn v. Knight Facilities case when Horn developed sensitivity to chemical solutions she had to stay away from cleaning work and there were no reasonable accommodations available as per the physician. When Horn sued Knight Facilities she was not able to prove her side as she cannot perform her duties for the position with or without reasonable accommodation. In this case also the reasonable accommodation can be made possible only after taking the opinion from a physician on whether the employee can perform her duties if she is given the shorter route to the warehouse. The job nature requires the employees to run to meet their quotas and shorter route also require running to a small extent. Hence I would clarify from a doctor regarding the restrictions on employee’s disability and whether the job will have bad effect on her disability because of running though it is to a small extent. I can decide whether it is a reasonable accommodation only after clarifying with the doctor.