Court holds that anxiety from possibly getting fired is an ADA disability. October 7th, 2013 This article by attorney Eric B. Meyer posted on the DRI (Defense Research Institute) LinkedIn page states that a federal court, remarkably, has recently held that the anxiety symptoms arising from fear of losing one’s job qualifies as a “disability” under the ADA (American’s With Disabilities Act). This certainly has relevance for forensic psychiatrists who are asked to evaluate employees to determine whether or not they have psychiatric diagnoses that qualify as a “disability” under the ADA! The federal opinion can be downloaded here: Huiner-v-Arlington-School Court holds that anxiety from possibly getting fired is an ADA disability By Eric B. Meyer on October 4, 2013 7:00 AM | Let me tell you about a teacher in South Dakota. In 2010, she received a letter communicating concerns about her performance. Subsequent evaluations of the teacher’s classes noted several deficiencies. So, the school placed the teacher on a performance improvement plan.It was right around this time that the teacher met with a physician’s assistant, who diagnosed the teacher with “anxiety and depression, likely stemming from her concerns about possibly getting fired.”So, at the teacher’s request, the physician’s assistant wrote a letter to the school seeking a laundry list of accommodations, including: ●
restructuring her job to include only essential functions if stressful situations continue to negatively impact her ● encouraging her to walk away from stressful confrontations with supervisors; and ● providing coverage if she becomes overwhelmed with stress from the work environment and needs to leave The school responded to the full list of accommodation requests, agreeing to provide some, rejecting some, and requesting clarification as to others. A few months later, after the PIP ended, the school recommended against renewing the teacher’s contract, delivering to her a “notice of his intent to recommend nonrenewal.” Shortly after receipt of the notice, the teacher took a medical leave of absence for the rest of the school year, after which her contract was not renewed. The teacher then sued for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. What is a disability under the ADA? The ADA requires employers to accommodate a disabled employee if, doing so, will allow that employee to perform the essential functions of her position without resulting in undue hardship for the employer. An employer who fails to discharge these obligations has violated the law.