The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

According to the allegations, a hospital employee fractured her foot and tore tendons in her ankle, requiring medical leave. When she returned, she worked in a light duty, patient care assignment for months, and eventually requested a job reassignment as a reasonable accommodation for her disability.

Although a vacant receptionist position which the employee could perform with her restrictions existed, the employer did not reassign her. Instead of reassigning her, the hospital fired her and provided a termination letter stating the employee would not be eligible for rehire until she was either "fully recovered" or had "a release for full duty" assignment.

Source: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-sues-st-vincent-hospital-disability-discrimination-0

Commentary

Requiring an employee to be "fully recovered" or released for "full duty" before returning to work is a common mistake. Courts and the EEOC have frequently required exceptions to such policies when a reasonable accommodation is needed pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Healthcare employers are particularly vulnerable to ADA risk because many clinical roles are physically demanding. That is it is important to carefully managing the return-to-work process and consider each accommodation request.

Reduce accommodation risks by:

· Eliminating any policies requiring full recovery or a full duty release before returning to work

· Conducting an individual assessment for each employee via the interactive process when disability accommodations are requested

· Documenting the interactive process at every stage, including what accommodation was denied or granted and why

· Ensuring managers and supervisors are prohibited from telling employees they must be fully recovered before returning to work

Healthcare organizations should review their return-to-work policies and revise them with the support of legal counsel.