Rotator Cuff Restrictions on a 10-Hour Assembly Line
Denise, 45, has worked four years as an assembly technician on a 10-hour, four-day line at an automotive parts plant. She had arthroscopic rotator cuff repair on her right (dominant) shoulder. Her surgeon's orders for the next eight weeks: no lifting over 10 lb, no overhead reaching, no repetitive above-shoulder work. Her regular job requires lifting 35-lb totes every two minutes and overhead fastening at two stations. She has used 6 of 12 FMLA weeks. The plant has a 'team support' role that stays within the 10-lb limit, but it runs on night shift, and Denise is a single parent with no evening childcare. The collective bargaining agreement posts temporary openings by seniority, and three senior employees have bid. Her supervisor wants her to 'stay out until she's 100%' and asks the disability manager to confirm she cannot work.
1. What should the disability manager do in the first 72 hours? Rank the actions and explain the legal and practical reason for each.
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Sequence matters because two legal tracks are running at once: FMLA leave rights and ADA accommodation. The supervisor's '100% healed' expectation is not a lawful standard.
- Correct the premise with the supervisor first, in writing. The ADA asks whether Denise can perform the essential functions with or without reasonable accommodation, not whether she is fully healed. Do not send a memo confirming she cannot work; that document would be used against the employer later.
- Contact Denise within one business day. Confirm receipt of the surgeon's restrictions, ask what she believes she can do, and open an accommodation file. Confirm the FMLA designation notice was issued; with 6 of 12 weeks used, the leave clock is live and running.
- Confirm the medical documentation is sufficient. The surgeon's restrictions are probably enough for now, but request the expected duration and whether shift length, sitting/standing tolerance, or reaching below shoulder are affected.
- Map restrictions to the job in writing. A 35-lb lift every two minutes and overhead fastening are clearly outside a 10-lb/no-overhead order. Document the mismatch rather than describing it verbally.
- Identify accommodation options: the team-support role, day-shift modification, lift assists, reassignment of the two overhead stations, or a temporary transfer. Loop in labor relations before promising a CBA-covered slot.
- Set a review date at two weeks or when the surgeon updates restrictions.
Acting on the supervisor's framing risks an ADA 'qualified individual' error and a possible FMLA interference claim.
2. Is the night-shift team-support role a reasonable accommodation Denise must accept? Analyze the childcare conflict, the seniority provision, and possible alternatives.
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The night role fits her restrictions, so it is a candidate accommodation, but 'candidate' is not 'mandatory.'
Effectiveness and choice. The employer must offer an accommodation that is effective; it does not have to be the employee's preferred one. If the night role is the only restriction-compliant work and she declines it solely for childcare reasons, the employer has a defensible position that it offered a reasonable accommodation and she refused. Childcare is a personal obligation, not a disability-related need, so it generally does not make an otherwise reasonable accommodation unreasonable.
But test alternatives first. Before relying on that argument, the DM should determine whether a day-shift equivalent can be created for eight weeks: a shift swap, modified team-support hours, reassignment of the two overhead stations, a lift assist, or temporary part-time. If any of these works, the childcare conflict disappears.
The seniority problem cuts the other way. The three senior bidders have a contractual claim to the posted opening. Under the reasoning of US Airways v. Barnett, an accommodation that conflicts with a seniority system is generally not required absent special circumstances. Here the employer, not the employee, is proposing to bypass seniority, which creates grievance exposure. Get labor relations involved, give the union notice, and make any placement temporary and documented rather than informal.
FMLA bridge. She has six weeks of leave left but an eight-week recovery, so leave may run out before release. Plan now for a short ADA leave extension rather than discovering the gap at week 12.
Recommendation: offer the night role in writing, pursue day-shift modification in parallel for five business days, document both, and let Denise choose between an effective accommodation and unpaid leave.
3. The supervisor wants written confirmation that Denise 'cannot work.' What should the disability manager send, and what should be excluded? Should a functional capacity evaluation be ordered now?
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Send a restriction summary, not a medical narrative. The supervisor needs: no lifting over 10 lb, no overhead reaching, no repetitive above-shoulder work; released to work within those restrictions; expected duration approximately eight weeks post-surgery; accommodation under review. That is the whole message.
Exclude the diagnosis, operative report, medication list, treating physician's prognosis, and any statement that she 'cannot work.' The supervisor has no need to know any of it, and a blanket incapacity letter can be used to deny FMLA or ADA rights. Keep the clinical documentation in the confidential medical file, separate from the personnel file, with restricted access.
Why this is not just paperwork. The supervisor's request reveals that he has reframed a temporary restriction as total disability. Correcting that framing is half the intervention; if it goes uncorrected, the next step is a leave designation she did not ask for and a scheduling decision made on the wrong facts.
FCE timing: not now. A functional capacity evaluation measures maximum functional capacity and is most useful at the end of healing or when medical opinions conflict. At this stage the surgeon's restrictions are current and controlling. An FCE this early can be premature, may stress a repair still in the protected phase, and would not change the accommodation analysis.
Order one if: restrictions remain disputed past the expected healing window; the surgeon releases her to full duty but job demands are still in question; or she requests transfer to a physically different role and the employer needs an objective baseline.
Interim plan: accommodate within the surgeon's restrictions, request an update at week six, and revisit the FCE decision then, in writing.