Legal Question in Disability Law in Tennessee
losing job do to medication being taken
I have a friend, whom was in training for a job,R.A. for an university, during training which was out of the city, a camping retreat, and she had a panic attack. she takes medication for panic attacks, but did not have it with her. she told her head R.A. and she seemed ok. thne when they got back, her head told her that she is not fit for the job and she thinks that she is not responseible. Now i think that is propostrous because she is very responseible thinking she would have a panic attack, because she was doing very well, she went to the camp with full hopes. The panic attack was in fact on a fifty foot pole, she didn't expect to be in such high pplaces. Now we all know why she has a problem with her getting the job and firing her, so is there any legal action that can be taken place? there was no conversation taken place that says that they would have vigorous training and i don't know of anyhting that says a person is not fit to do a job because he or she is on medication.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: losing job do to medication being taken
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)protects "qualified individuals" with disabilities from employment discrimination on account of their disability. To be a "qualified individual", the person must be able to perform all the "essential functions" of the job with or without a reasonable accomodation. A reasonable accomodation must be requested; an employer is not required to grant one unless it is requested.
A prevelance to panic attacks could be a qualified disability, if it is expected to be of long or permanent duration. Let's assume that it is. The question is then whether climbing 50-ft poles is an "essential function" of the job. If it is, then terminating her for being unable to do it would not be ADA discrimination, whether they knew of the disability or not.
There is a question here of whether her pointing out her disability and about having forgotten her medication is a request for a reasonable accomodation, the reasonable accomodation being not having to climb a 50-foot pole. If performing such acts is essential to the job, the employer does not have to grant any accomodation that would excuse the person from doing it. A reasonable accomodation here might have included allowing her to work under the influence of a drug (medication)which it probably normally prohibits. But, she forgot her medication. I don't think allowing one to forget their necessary medication from time to time is likely to be considered a required "reasonable accomodation".
On the other hand, if climbing 50-foot poles is not an essential function of the job, and if she otherwise performed all duties adequately, there may be a question whether she was fired due to a stigma associated with the perception that an individual is prone to panic attacks. Under those circumstances, since she put them on notice of her disability, it could be a prohibited discharge.
While it does not look like it may be a strong case, I do not know enough to rule it out. I encourage your friend to contact me at [email protected], or at (770) 534-1057 for a free consultation. She would need to give me a lot more facts, including a description of all the duties are involved, and which are essential.
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