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Americans with Disabilities Act – Failure to Accommodate

By: Derek Hawkins//November 3, 2015//

Americans with Disabilities Act – Failure to Accommodate

By: Derek Hawkins//November 3, 2015//

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Civil

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Officials: KANNE and SYKES, Circuit Judges, and ELLIS, District Judge

Americans with Disabilities Act – Failure to Accommodate

No. 14-2344

Larry Hooper v. Proctor Health Care Incorporated

Appellant failure to notify Defendant-respondent of failure to accommodate claim, and lack of merit fatal to action.

“Here, Dr. Cavanaugh cleared Hooper to return to work without accommodations. See R330 (“Dr. Hooper is fit to return to full-time practice without any specific medical or psychiatric restrictions.”). Dr. Cavanaugh did recommend certain accommodations that he thought could “result in Dr. Hooper’s experiencing less stress in the workplace and an even improved level of medical practice.” Id. But these recommendations cannot form the basis of a failure to accommodate claim because Dr. Cavanaugh specifically found that Hooper was qualified for his position without accommodations. See Brumfield, 735 F.3d at 633 (“A disabled employee who is capable of performing the essential functions of a job in spite of her physical or mental limitations is qualified for the job, and the ADA prevents the employer from discriminating against her on the basis of her irrelevant disability. But since the employee’s limitations do not affect her ability to perform those essential functions, the employer’s duty to accommodate is not implicated.”). Hooper’s failure to accommodate claim thus would fail if considered on the merits.”

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.

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