Legal Question in Disability Law in Massachusetts
shift work disability in emergency room physician
Is there precedent for an emergency room physician who has a job specific disability policy through Penn Mutual to be considered disabled on the basis of a circadian rhythm disturbance due to the shift work.
Penn Mutual is implying that this distrubance in a shift worker is too gray to be a disability. A sleep clinic has suggested that he not wok shift work, and although he can work as a doctor he can not work in
emergency room medicine only working days. Thank you
for any help on this matter
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: shift work disability in emergency room physician
This is something of a gray area area in the law as well. There is one recent federal case that states that a hospital did not have to accommodate a nurse who was a shift worker because the rotating shift was an essential job function. On the other hand, there are some indications that these determinations are very fact-specific and depend on the hospital's needs and ability to accommodate such a request. I'm working on just such a case right now...
Good luck