In King v. Steward Trumbull Memorial Hospital (6th Cir., No. 21-3445, 04/07/2022) King was terminated from her nursing position, and then sued for failure to accommodate her disability in violation of Ohio law. The trial court granted summary judgment for the employer, but the Sixth Circuit (2-1) reversed. King applied for a leave of absence to accommodate her asthma. The Hospital argued that King’s asthma flare-ups made her unqualified for her job because an essential element of her job as a nurse required regular, in-person attendance. The Sixth Circuit held that leave as a reasonable accommodation is consistent with the statutory purpose because it enables the employee to return to work following the period of leave requested as an accommodation, that is, “it enables the employee to perform the essential function of attendance.” The court considered (1) the amount of leave sought; (2) whether the requested leave generally complies with the employer’s leave policies; and (3) the nature of the employee’s prognosis, treatment, and likelihood of recovery. King ultimately only requested five weeks of leave. Thus, the court held, she did not seek an unreasonable amount of leave according to the Hospital’s own leave policies. The dissent said King’s reasonable accommodation claim should fail because “King never proposed a definite term of medical leave while she was a hospital employee.”
Sixth Circuit Reverses SJ in ADA Accommodation Case
