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Disability Law

Telecommuting option not required by ADA for job demanding 'interpersonal skills,' says court

An en banc federal appeals court has ruled that Ford Motor Co. was not required to offer a telecommuting option to a worker with irritable bowel syndrome and whose job required “good, old-fashioned interpersonal skills.”

The 8-5 en banc opinion (PDF) on Friday by the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that a regular presence at work was an essential function of plaintiff Jane Harris’ job as a steel resale buyer. As a result, Ford wasn’t required to grant her request to telecommute up to four days a week. Business Insurance and Bloomberg BNA have stories.

A three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit has issued a contrary ruling in April 2014.

Resale buyers of steel purchase raw steel from suppliers, which resell it to parts manufacturers, which supply the parts to vehicle assemblers. The job is “highly interactive,” the en banc court said. “Some of the interactions occur by email and telephone. But many require good, old-fashioned interpersonal skills.”

Ford had offered to accommodate Harris by moving her closer to the restroom or by identifying jobs better suited to telecommuting, but Harris didn’t indicate an interest in those options.

The general rule is that regular work attendance on-site is essential to most jobs, especially interactive jobs, the en banc court said. “And it’s the controlling [rule] here.”

“The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to reasonably accommodate their disabled employees; it does not endow all disabled persons with a job—or job schedule—of their choosing,” the en banc court said.

Hat tip to How Appealing.