Failure to Accommodate – ADA

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: George D. Hirmiz v. New Harrison Hotel Corp.,

Case No.: 16-3915

Officials: POSNER, SYKES, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Failure to Accommodate – ADA

George Hirmiz, a front‐desk clerk at a Travelodge Hotel, was fired after being caught on video sleeping in the hotel lobby while a fight broke out among several guests. He sued the hotel under the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq., claiming that his employer had failed to accommodate a malady that he had contracted as a result of long‐term exposure to high levels of electromagnetic voltage at the hotel; had discriminated against him because of his disorder; and finally had fired him in retaliation for his having complained about the ho‐ tel’s voltage levels to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The district court granted summary judg‐ ment in favor of the hotel on the ground that Hirmiz had failed to present evidence that he is disabled within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act, that he’d engaged in any protected activity before his termination (an essential element of his ADA retaliation claim), or that the complaint he’d filed with OSHA had played any role in his termination.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.