The Equipment Operator Who Used All His Leave

The policy itself is the central problem. A rule that automatically separates employees when FMLA leave runs out is a "no-exceptions" rule that the ADA does not permit; it cannot substitute for an individualized assessment.

• FMLA exhaustion ends FMLA entitlement, not the ADA obligation. The two run on separate tracks.
• A workers' compensation injury does not displace ADA analysis. The city may have parallel state workers' comp reinstatement or hire-preference duties, which should be checked before any action.
• "Unable to perform the essential functions" must be determined individually, using the current job description and the employee's documented limitations, not the supervisor's impression.
• "Any accommodation that may be available" is a request. It triggers the interactive process. HR may ask the employee to clarify and may obtain medical documentation of limitations, but it must respond and move the process forward in good faith.
• The policy should be revised to require an individualized review, because as written it will be treated as evidence of a predetermined decision in any charge or grievance.

Signing the letter as drafted converts a manageable accommodation case into a likely ADA violation.

Work through the accommodation analysis in order, documenting each step.

1. Confirm the essential functions from the classification specification and current job description, not from the supervisor's account. If operating heavy equipment is essential to the operator class, removing it means he is not qualified for that position with or without accommodation.
2. Clarify the request. Ask in writing whether he seeks to remain in his current class, and request medical documentation of limitations and any work restrictions.
3. Evaluate alternatives. Reassignment to a vacant position for which he is qualified is an accommodation of last resort that the ADA does expect employers to consider. The custodian and dispatcher vacancies should be assessed against his restrictions and qualifications. In a merit-system jurisdiction, reassignment must be checked against civil service rules and any CBA bumping or transfer provisions before HR promises anything.
4. Test undue hardship if any alternative is proposed (cost, disruption, displacement of other employees) - with specifics, not assertions.
5. Decide and notify in writing, with the reasoning, and state that the employee may request reconsideration with new medical information.

Do not create a light-duty position as a permanent accommodation unless the city is prepared to do so consistently; the obligation is to consider reassignment and other reasonable steps, not to manufacture a new job.

• Medical documentation goes in a confidential medical file, separate from the personnel file, with access limited to those who need it to make the accommodation decision. Supervisors should receive only the work restrictions, never diagnoses.
• Workers' compensation records stay in their own file; do not merge them into the personnel file.
• Keep a written log of the interactive process: each request, each response, dates, who participated, options considered, and the reasons each was accepted or rejected. This log is the city's defense if the employee files a charge.
• Retain the termination or reassignment decision and its rationale with the job description version in effect at the time.
• Retain the file per the city's retention schedule and any state law governing personnel and medical records; when in litigation or after a charge is filed, place a hold on destruction.

If no accommodation is granted, the record must show that the city engaged in good faith - that is the element most often missing in lost cases.