Legal Question in Disability Law in Wisconsin

Re: Diagnosed with Pernio, can't work my job

The federal law, Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibits discrimination against a qualified individual with a disability. A qualified individual with a disability is someone that can perform the essential functions of his position with or without reasonable accommodation. An accommodation is some modification of duties or the use of an assistive device or anything else that enables you to do your job. "Essential functions" are not every single duty, but rather the duties that are essentially important for you to perform given your experience, qualifications and other employees available in the workforce to perform certain functions. For example, if you are a butcher, cutting meat is probably an essential function, while mopping up may not be.

Your issue will likely turn on whether you can perform the essential functions with or without accommodation. You may need to talk to your doctor about how you can perform the essential functions of your position and what, if any, accommodations may work for you. The employer is obligated to make accommodations if it will not pose an undue burden on the employer to do so. If no accommodation will enable you to perform the essential functions of your position, then the employer may have no duty to continue your employment. Transfer to another open position for which you are qualified may be a reasonable accommodation, but that issue is not well settled under Federal law. State law may support this position, but each case is really dependent on the particular situation. Bottom line is that if you cannot perform the essential functions of your position and no reasonable accommodation will enable you to do so, you can request a transfer to another position for which you are qualified. Whether the employer ultimately has to grant you the accommodation in your current position or transfer as an accommodation may have to be settled in a legal action after the fact.

Re: Diagnosed with Pernio, can't work my job

One of the primary hang-ups or problems with the ADA and the WFEA (Wisconsin Fair Employment Act), is that you are technically not entitled to the continuation of your position if you cannot perform the "essential functions of your job" with an accommodation or without an accommodation. Based on your statement, the essential functions include being in sub-68 degree temperatures all the time from what the statement says.

So, based on what you say about your disability, you cannot perform the essential functions of the job without a reasonable accommodation (due to the temperature). Also, If the highest the temperature gets is 45, then you wouldn't be able to do the essential functions of your meat department job even with an accommodation.

Based on this, there is a strong argument that the store could terminate you from the meat department position and have that not be discrimination based on the disability both under the ADA and the WFEA. Further, both the state and federal law on reasonable accommodations for disabilities say that an employer is not required to transfer someone into another job at the same location or at a different location. Regardless of this, I generally recommend of course of engaging about the disability laws with the employer and attempt to get you another position within the store that would be within the warmer/acceptable temperatures, assuming that is within your set of goals.