Falling Asleep On The Job Raises Knotty ADA Issue

It started with an employee who kept falling asleep on the job. When she was discovered sleeping in the rest room, she got a final warning/suspension. The precise sequence of warnings, suspensions, preliminary doctor’s findings and, finally, a by-the-book diagnosis of narcolepsy, manageable with medication, proved crucial in what happened next: a ruling in favor of the company that fired her in district court, but then a part reversal by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Steptoe & Johnson attorney Keisha N. Jackson extracts a key takeaway for employers.