WANT TO WORK AT HOME AS A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION?
Back on January 2014 we wrote about an employee’s potential right to work at home if s/he otherwise qualifies for a reasonable accommodation. The post was entitled, “Want to Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation?” and provided a guide for union reps to make solid arguments in support of an employee’s request and for ER/LR specialists who have to make decisions on such requests. But there is a brand new decision out of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that adds even more clarity to how one determines whether to grant the accommodation or not. The company argued that the employee, an attorney, had failed to prove she could do the job effectively from her home over the ten weeks requested. The court upheld a jury verdict that she could, noting that (1) fellow employees testified as to their opinion that the job could be done from home, (2) people outside the company who she dealt with regularly offered the same opinion, and (3) the company’s position description identifying the essential duties of the job was so old as to lack credibility. Check out Mosby-Meachem v. Memphis Light, 6th Cir. No.17-5483 (2017) for details. It is not a federal employee case, but the law is virtually identical for feds.
