Failing To Inform Worker With Cancer Of Other Jobs May Be “Constructive Discharge,” Judge Says

A worker diagnosed with cancer who resigned after being told her employer had no “easier” jobs she could perform got approval from a district court to bring her ADA case to trial. When the employee told her supervisor the diagnosis, she triggered the Americans With Disabilities Act requirement to identify potential reasonable accommodations, the judge wrote in denying Gordon Flesch Co.’s motion for summary judgment. A trial will determine if the company’s employment manual and orientation training satisfied the ADA requirements , as the company claims, or if by suggesting no “easier” job was available in an initial phone call the supervisor prevented the interactive process from going forward.