Legal Question in Disability Law in Ohio

Fibromyalgia

My wife suffers from Fibromyalgia but her life functions are not impaired to the point of being disabled per the ADA.

Nonetheless, her condition causes her enormous difficulty at work due to pain, fatigue and loss of concentration. She is an at will employee and works in a collections department. She has been at this employer for only 4 months. While not in the WTC buildings, she was near ground zero on 9/11 as she worked in New York at that time.

She is facing probable termination due to low productivity. Based on my limited research, it does not appear her employer has any duty to provide an accommodation.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you


Asked on 1/19/04, 5:36 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Paul Nidich Paul A. Nidich, Attorney-at-Law

Re: Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a particularly difficult condition in that many medical professionals do not recognize this as a legitimate illness. This is the biggest problem to your wife's seeking reasonable accommodation.

The ADA's applicability depends upon the number of people employed by a company, whether it prevents the individual from performing the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodation, and whether the accommodation needed creates a hardship on the employer. If your wife can perform the essential functions of her job with reasonable accommodation, she should (quickly) present her employer with a medical statement that she suffers from fibromyalgia and suggest what reasonable accommodations would allow her to perform the essential functions of her job. If the employer does not know about her disability, just that she is not performing the job in a satisfactory manner, your wife will have no recourse. I would bet that her fatigue and lack of concentration probably does substantially impair one of her life functions.

I hope this has been helpful.

Paul Nidich

513.563.1595

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Answered on 1/19/04, 11:52 pm


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