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Employer Defeats ADA Law Suit For Alleged Improper Requirement of Fitness Examination

By on December 15, 2016 in ADA, NJ Workers' Comp with 0 Comments

Fitness for duty examinations must meet a standard of being job related and consistent with business necessity.  If the employer does not have enough to meet this standard, the employer may be sued for discrimination under the ADA for improperly requiring a fitness examination.  The employer in Painter v. Illinois Department of Transportation, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94940 (D. Ill. July 21, 2016) addressed the issue of meeting the job-related standard by obtaining detailed statements from co-employees supporting the need for a fitness examination.

Deanna Painter was assigned to a position of Office Administrator at Traffic Safety, which was part of a division of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).  The initial problem concerned an incident involving plaintiff and a co-worker where plaintiff loudly accused the co-worker of prank calling her in the Spring of 2011. Plaintiff was put on administrative leave at that time.  An investigation of this incident led to other employees preparing written statements regarding what they witnessed.  These statements were given to the IDOT fit-for-duty physician, Dr. Fletcher, who then made a decision whether there was a basis for a fitness examination.

Dr. Fletcher read the statements and determined that a fitness exam was needed.  He found plaintiff fit for duty but recommended a reevaluation in 45 days. Around the same time, other employees surfaced and described other incidents involving plaintiff.  Seven more employees wrote statements, describing how the plaintiff would have frequent outbursts and would walk around the office while talking to herself.  Some expressed fears for their own safety. Two or three employees insisted on being escorted by security guards to their cars at the end of the day because they feared that plaintiff would approach them in the parking lot while she was on leave.

Interestingly, plaintiff admitted in her deposition that she had issues with 11 employees in the Traffic Safety area.  The statements from this new group of employees were given to Dr. Fletcher, who again saw plaintiff for a fitness examination but recommended that she see a psychologist, Dr. Karen Lee.  After seeing plaintiff, Dr. Lee decided to take plaintiff as her personal patient, thereby creating a conflict of interest and preventing her from informing the employer of her views.

On September 26, 2011, plaintiff returned to work but in the Day Labor division of IDOT as an office administrator.  Her supervisor noticed that she was making logs of actions of co-employees and conversations with co-employees and reprimanded her for this.  Plaintiff said that she was creating the logs in order to document everything so that she could figure out why she had been placed on leave. Her supervisor pointed out that none of the people in Day Labor had been involved in her situation in Traffic Safety.

Her new co-workers began to complain about plaintiff’s behavior.  Her supervisor also complained that she was sending him emails in the middle of the night that were nonsensical. Plaintiff was again put on administrative leave on November 23, 2011. Two employees prepared statements that said they feared for their safety.  Plaintiff again went for a fitness exam and was again authorized to return to work.  After returning to work, plaintiff sent an email to her union representative stating: “for the record, the clock in the small conference room being set to 4:30 PM when it was only 4:00 PM – that is a tell-tale sign for me.  It told me everything I needed to know. Thanks.”  Plaintiff included a smiley-face emoticon with this email.  The union rep responded that he did not understand the reference and thought the battery was dead. Plaintiff responded, “Something’s dead alright – however, I prefer to be ‘a lady’ and not say what I think is dead.”  This email was treated by IDOT and the Illinois State Police as a threat.

Plaintiff was again placed on administrative leave and sent for a fitness examination.  This time she was found to be psychiatrically unfit for duty as a result of paranoid thinking. Plaintiff’s own psychiatrist disputed this finding.  Plaintiff sued and alleged that she was improperly required to attend fitness examinations.  She later became employed with the Illinois Department of Human Services.

The federal court ruled for the employer stating that there was ample reason to require the fitness examinations:  “The record establishes that prior to each leave and subsequent exam, multiple employees raised concerns about the Plaintiff’s behavior in the workplace.  A number of employees felt unsafe around the Plaintiff. Certain employees did not want to be alone around her and some were afraid to walk to their cars at night.  The Plaintiff shouted at her co-workers, talked in a fast-paced manner and talked to herself at times.  The Plaintiff’s supervisors considered the employees’ statements and their own interactions before determining that Plaintiff was a security risk to the other employees.”

The case is interesting because it shows how careful the employer in this case was in documenting the basis for the fitness examination.  The care which the employer took was clearly warranted, and the result was that the employer easily defeated plaintiff’s ADA law suit.

 

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About the Author

About the Author:

John H. Geaney, Esq. is a Shareholder and Co-Chair of Capehart Scatchard's Workers' Compensation Group. Mr. Geaney began an email newsletter entitled “Currents in Workers’ Compensation, ADA and FMLA” in 2001 in order to keep clients and readers informed on leading developments in these three areas of law. Since that time he has written over 500 newsletter updates.

Mr. Geaney is the author of Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual for Practitioners, Adjusters & Employers. The Manual is distributed by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE). He also authored an ADA and FMLA Manual also distributed by NJICLE. If you are interested in purchasing “Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual for Practitioners, Adjusters & Employers,” please contact NJICLE at 732-214-8500 or visit their website at www.njicle.com.

Mr. Geaney represents employers in the defense of workers’ compensation, ADA and FMLA matters. He is a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers of the American Bar Association. He is one of two firm representatives to the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network.

A graduate of Holy Cross College summa cum laude, Mr. Geaney obtained his law degree from Boston College Law School.

Mr. Geaney was selected to the “New Jersey Super Lawyer” list (2005-2017, 2021 in the area of Workers’ Compensation). Only 5% of attorneys are selected to “Super Lawyers” through a peer nominated process based on independent research and peer evaluation. The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. For a description of the “Super Lawyers” selection methodology, please visit https://www.superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html

For the years 2022-2024 Mr. Geaney was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® list in the practice area of Workers’ Compensation Law - Employers. The attorneys on this list are selected based upon the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. A complete description of The Best Lawyers in America® methodology can be viewed via their website at https://www.bestlawyers.com/methodology.

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Capehart Scatchard is a full service law firm with offices in Mt. Laurel and Hamilton, New Jersey. The firm represents employers and businesses in a wide variety of areas, including workers’ compensation, civil litigation, labor, environmental, business, estates and governmental affairs.

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