Walters v. Mayo Clinic Health Sys. – Eau Claire Hosp., Inc. (Summary)

EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION (DISABILITY)

Walters v. Mayo Clinic Health Sys. – Eau Claire Hosp., Inc., No. 12-CV-804-WMC (W.D. Wis. Feb. 11, 2014)

The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin denied summary judgment for a hospital being sued by a nurse for disability discrimination and interference with her rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), holding that there was a material question of fact about whether the hospital discriminated against the nurse and failed to offer her a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disability Act – and interfered with her right to take intermittent FMLA leave – when it disciplined and eventually terminated her for tardiness and attendance issues despite knowing she was suffering from mental health issues and without engaging in the interactive process to determine whether a reasonable accommodation would help her to avoid further tardiness and attendance problems.  The court made several notable findings in reaching its decision:

• That the hospital, as a health care provider, should have been better able to recognize the effects of mental illness on its employee – even though the employee’s own physician stated, in the FMLA certification – that the nurse was able to perform the essential functions of her job.
• That even if the nurse never requested any accommodation – other than intermittent FMLA leave – the employer should have taken the initiative, knowing of her health condition, to commence the interactive process of discussing whether a reasonable accommodation would help the nurse to perform the essential functions of her job.  Further, the court said the employer’s duty was even greater in a case such as this, involving mental health, where the employee may be unable to adequately express her need for an accommodation.