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This case raises an issue that the Second Circuit not previously resolved under the Americans with Disabilities Act: is the plaintiff entitled to a reasonable accommodation if he she can perform the essential functions of her job without an accommodation?
The case is Tudor v. Whitehall Central School District, issued on March 25. Plaintiff is a teacher with PTSD, whose symptoms have affected her neurological functioning, interfered with her ability to perform daily tasks, induced a stutter, and causes severe nightmares. Her employer gave plaintiff an accommodation that allows her to leave campus for a 15 minute break during her morning and after noon prep periods. A new school administrator then directed that no teachers can leave school grounds during prep periods. Under the arrangement that led to this lawsuit, plaintiff would leave during afternoon study hall. Plaintiff's lawsuit alleges that defendant's refusal to guarantee a 15 minute afternoon break violated the ADA. Defendant argued, and the district court agreed, that plaintiff cannot win this case because she is able to perform her job without the accommodation.
The Court of Appeals goes back to the basics in this case, reviewing the reasonable accommodation cases that have developed over the last 30 years, when the ADA was enacted. The Court reaches this conclusion based on the statutory language:
an employer must, absent undue hardship, offer a reasonable accommodation--such as a modified work schedule--to an employee with a disability if that employee is capable of performing the essential functions of her job with or without the accommodation.
Under a straightforward reading of the phrase “with or without,” the fact that an employee can perform her job responsibilities without a reasonable accommodation does not mean that she must: she may be a “qualified individual” entitled to reasonable accommodation even if she can perform the essential functions of her job without one.
Other Circuits have held as such, and the Second Circuit joins in that interpretation of the ADA. Adding to its analysis, the Court of Appeals says, "To say that an accommodation must be strictly necessary to be reasonable would run counter to this purpose; if Congress had wanted employers to make only necessary accommodations, rather than reasonable ones, it could have said so. But Congress did not require 'necessary accommodations'; the ADA plainly directs employers to make 'reasonable accommodations.'” Per se rules are inapplicable in the ADA context, the Court of Appeals adds, as the "reasonableness of an employer's accommodation is a fact-specific question." Bottom line: "An employee may qualify for an accommodation even if it is not strictly necessary to her performance of the essential functions of her job."
One other point, as the Second Circuit remands this case to the district court for trial. The Court says that while the defendant may argue that "that the requested accommodation would impose on it an undue hardship," plaintiff's "long history of receiving her requested accommodation and [defendant's] evolving policies indicate that Tudor’s requested accommodation may have been reasonable, notwithstanding that she performed her essential job functions without it." This is significant: many ADA plaintiffs argue that a longstanding accommodation was rejected by new supervisors. This language allows plaintiff to argue that the longstanding arrangement is inherently reasonable and cannot be altered for the time being.
