Suppose you are a plant manager and one of your team members, John Smiths, is fa
ID: 409562 • Letter: S
Question
Suppose you are a plant manager and one of your team members, John Smiths, is facing problems controlling his anger. He is experiencing wide swings in emotions due to his bipolar disorder, which is a medical condition. You are aware that John has been under the treatment of a psychiatrist. He recently threatened other employees with violence, which forced you to place him on leave until the psychiatrist indicates that his emotional condition has stabilized.
Can John use the ADA to seek a reasonable accommodation and get reinstated to the same job or a modified one? If you need further information to assess this issue, what information would that be?
Step 1 Read the scenario.Suppose you are a plant manager and one of your team members, John Smiths, is facing problems controlling his anger. He is experiencing wide swings in emotions due to his bipolar disorder, which is a medical condition. You are aware that John has been under the treatment of a psychiatrist. He recently threatened other employees with violence, which forced you to place him on leave until the psychiatrist indicates that his emotional condition has stabilized.
Step 2 Answer the question.
Can John use the ADA to seek a reasonable accommodation and get reinstated to the same job or a modified one? If you need further information to assess this issue, what information would that be?
Explanation / Answer
The situation was handled accordingly to act on removing John Smith as he was posing a safety issue not only to himself, but others. The Americans Disabilities Act protects the civil rights of those with disabilities similar to those based on color, race, sex, origin, and religion (U.S. Department of Justice, 2015). Under the ADA part of the definition includes those people who have a record of a disability, such as anyone who has recovered from a mental illness.
John can use the ADA as an attempt to get reinstated because he is covered under the ADA act due to his mental illness. The ADA acts states in order to be eligible, the person with the disability needs to have skill, experience, education, or any other requirements necessary for the job being sought, and that he or she must be able to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation (U.S. Department of Justice, 2015). Since in this case John has the necessary knowledge, Skills, and Abilities, which was illustrated through his past employment he most definitely can use the ADA to attempt to get reinstated. However, based on the past experience and the illness of John I would have to evaluate and consider whether John can perform the functions of his job with accommodations that he is requesting. The additional information that would needed to determine reasonable accommodation would be the accommodations that John is requesting. I would also need to seek that John has become emotional stable and that is condition has stabilized to ensure the safety of himself and others within the workplace.
In order to see if John’s condition has stabilized, I would have to considerations to make. Does the company require medical examinations for all employees, or for employees in which the position is being sought U.S. Department of Justice, 2015). If medical examinations are the norm than this would be the best solution to ensure John is fit for the job. If the company does not require medical examinations for this position than an interview with John asking him how he would feel while performing the functions of his job would be the next best option. If an offer is extended and John did not have a required examination prior to employment than a post-offer examination can be given John.
In conclusion, John can seek reinstatement of his job under the ADA for several reasons including mental illness is covered, having the required knowledge, skills, and abilities, and is able to perform the job being sought U.S. Department of Justice, 2015). As a manager it would be important to review any reasonable accommodations being requested to John to see if they can be accommodating to the job tasks, and to ensure that John does not pose a safety issue to the organization. The safety concern can be address through a medical examination or an interview.