Worker with Depression Can't Get Accommodations to 'Maximize Productivity'

The vice president of human resources asked the office manager to explain which accommodations she was requesting and to explain how they would allow her to perform given her condition.  

The employee responded in an email that she was seeking accommodations to maximize her productivity. She also revealed her diagnosis and said her the condition caused her to experience sadness, sleep disturbances, and related symptoms. Her email included the same list of 18 accommodations. She also tried to link some of her requested accommodations to her depression and anxiety. She noted, for example, that: due to her anxiety, she wanted meetings to be scheduled with a week's notice.  

The VP declined her request and terminated her employment. 

The office manager sued the company under the ADA for failing to provide her a reasonable accommodation. 

The court explained that it’s up to an employee to identify an accommodation that would enable her to perform the essential functions of her job. 

Here, the office manager failed to do that. In fact, the court observed, the worker admitted she could handle the job’s essential functions, such as coordinating staff meetings and supervising patient billing, without accommodations. In essence, the court indicated, the employee appeared to be seeking, in her own words, to "maximize [her] productivity."  

The court pointed out that while the office manager presented a list of accommodations, she didn’t explain which ones she needed versus which ones she merely wanted, and how any one of them would enable her to perform her job. 

Because she was already capable of performing her job’s essential functions, the company was under no duty to accommodate her, the court held. It therefore affirmed the District Court’s grant of summary judgment to the company. 

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