Perdue v. Sanofi-Aventis U.S., LLC - 999 F.3d 954 (4th Cir. 2021)

Rule:

If the job share in question did not exist at the time it was proposed as an accommodation, the ADA does not require the employer to create the new position to accommodate a disabled employee.

Facts:

Plaintiff employee was hired as a pharmaceutical sales representative at defendant employer in 2001. In 2013, plaintiff was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, and was determined to be “medically unable to work”. Defendant employer approved plaintiff’s request for leave and short-term disability benefits. During this time, plaintiff considered applying for a flexible-work arrangement, and decided to pursue a job-sharing arrangement. Defendant did not approve of the arrangement and eventually fired plaintiff. Plaintiff then sued defendant alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., and wrongful discharge under North Carolina law. The district court granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff appealed. 

Issue:

Would “job-sharing” a single full-time position with a willing partner qualify as a reasonable accommodation that an employer must provide under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA")? 

Answer:

No.

Conclusion:

The court affirmed the district court’s decision. The court held that the defendant did not violate the ADA when it declined to create a new job-sharing position for the plaintiff employee. According to the court, the new job-sharing position was not a reasonable accommodation under the ADA since the job share position did not exist at the time it was proposed as an accommodation, and the ADA did not require the employer to create the new position to accommodate the disabled employee. The ADA only required reassignment to a vacant position as an accommodation for an employee with a disability and the position had to already exist because the ADA did not require an employer create a new position for a disabled employee. As the plaintiff was unable to show that the job-share position she sought was both vacant and existing, her ADA reasonable accommodation claim failed.