Massachusetts Court Dismisses Disability Discrimination Claim Because Employee Failed to Properly Request Accommodation and Because Requested Schedule Change was Unreasonable

As we’ve written here and here, state and federal discrimination laws require employers to provide disabled employees with reasonable accommodations. Employers can deny unreasonable requests without violating these laws. A recent Massachusetts case provides a good example for when a requested schedule change is unreasonable. You can read the entire opinion here.

Nancy Daniels began working for Walmart in 1995, originally in its layaway department. In 2003, Daniels was promoted to the position of training coordinator. In November of 2014, Daniels was diagnosed with cancer. Because of the side effects of her treatment, Daniels informed her supervisors that she could not work nights or weekends and that she needed two days off in a row to recover from the fatigue caused by the treatment. Daniels’s supervisor said she had to be available to work nights and weekends as doing so was a job requirement. Daniels refused to work those shifts and also refused to apply for a manager position that would allow her not to work those shifts. Daniels never formally applied for an accommodation, but did talk to her supervisors about needing one. Walmart eventually terminated Daniels for performance reasons. Daniels sued claiming, in part, that Walmart failed to accommodate her request to not to work nights or weekends in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and M.G.L. ch 151B.

The Court dismissed Daniels’s claim for three reasons. First, Daniels failed to make Walmart aware that she needed an accommodation due to her disability and did not follow Walmart’s internal policies for requesting an accommodation. Second, Walmart provided ample evidence that working nights and evenings were an essential element of Daniels’s position, including that Walmart was focusing on hiring more minors and part-time associates for overnight and weekend shifts, which would require more training during those times and that the position was tasked with providing orientations to associates. Lastly, Walmart offered Daniels a new position that did not require nights and weekends once it learned about her ongoing cancer treatment and need for schedule change. Daniels did not apply for that job.

Employees interested in learning more about reasonable accommodations and schedule changes should read this case carefully. Employers definitely will use this case as a roadmap to defeat discrimination claims.