LABOR AGREEMENTS VERSUS EEO RIGHTS

Because of her physical limitations, the employee was no longer qualified to perform her duties. According to EEOC, that obligates the agency to consider reassigning her to a position she can perform.  The agency refused to consider her for a vacant position she could perform because the job was in another bargaining unit.  It claimed there was no contractual method for moving her from one unit to another.  But EEOC corrected the agency when the employee filed a complaint alleging denial of a reasonable accommodation. It wrote that the employee was, “entitled to reassignment to a vacant funded position outside of her craft, regardless of the dictates of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) if she was a qualified individual with a disability. Anibal L. v. USPS, EEOC Appeal No. 0120151142 (December 15, 2016).” The commission awarded her the job and back pay for any leave she had taken.  For more details, check out Lisa C., v. Louis DeJoy, USPS, EEOC No. 2019005689 (2020)