Unpaid Leave Was a Reasonable Accommodation, 4th Circuit Says

​Takeaway: This decision underscores the fact that the employer retains ultimate discretion in choosing among reasonable accommodations. Providing additional unpaid leave for necessary treatment in some circumstances should not be overlooked when considering the many forms reasonable accommodations may take. 

​A delivery driver with a back ailment failed to show that his employer’s offer to retain his job and allow him to take an unpaid leave of absence until he was able to return to work wasn’t a reasonable accommodation for the circumstances, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held.

The plaintiff, a driver for a global shipping company, began experiencing pain in his lower back, hip and buttocks. At the time, he was assigned to a delivery route, for which he had bid under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), and which required him to drive a truck with a cargo capacity of 600 cubic feet.

When the driver was diagnosed with hip bursitis (a type of inflammation), his employer granted his request for a more supportive seat. He still was able to work only sporadically until the fall of 2018, when he was diagnosed with sacroiliitis (inflammation of joints in the lower back). His doctor cleared him to return to work on the condition that he avoid prolonged sitting until Nov. 1, 2018. The driver requested an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation on Sept. 6, 2018, to drive a smaller vehicle with a cargo capacity of 300 to 400 cubic feet, which would have a…