Opinion ID: 74428
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Unreasonable Accommodation

Text: We also conclude that the district court correctly found that Davis’s requested accommodations were unreasonable as a matter of law. The ADA does not require accommodations, such as those Davis requested, that contravene the seniority rights of other employees under a collective bargaining agreement. In so 8 In an analogous situation, the First Circuit dismissed the plaintiff’s ADA claim on other grounds, but nonetheless addressed the “essential function” notion within the context of the plaintiff’s claim under the Family Medical Leave Act. See Tardie v. Rehabilitation Hosp., 168 F.3d 538 (1st Cir. 1999). The First Circuit wrote that “[a]t bottom, [plaintiff] offers no evidence that she or anyone else could perform the job in only forty hours per week,” and thus “the district court did not err in finding that working more than 40 hours per week was an essential function of the position.” Id. at 544. The court also noted: “At oral argument, [plaintiff’s] counsel argued that the time spent at a job is not a ‘function’ of the job; it is a capability. [Plaintiff] claims that only specific duties can be ‘functions’ of a position. . . . [Plaintiff] cites no authority for this distinction, and we believe it to be mere semantics.” Id. at 543-44. 12 concluding, we join eight other circuits which have held that an accommodation that contravenes the seniority rights of other employees under a collective bargaining agreement is unreasonable as a matter of law. See Willis v. Pacific Maritime Ass’n, 162 F.3d 561, 566-68 (9th Cir. 1998); Feliciano v. Rhode Island, 160 F.3d 780, 786-87 (1st Cir. 1998); Aldrich v. Boeing Co., 146 F.3d 1265, 1271 n.5 (10th Cir. 1998); Cassidy v. Detroit Edison Co., 138 F.3d 629, 634 (6th Cir. 1998); Kralik v. Durbin, 130 F.3d 76, 83 (3d Cir. 1997); Foreman v. Babcock & Wilcox Co., 117 F.3d 800, 810 (5th Cir. 1997); Eckles v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 94 F.3d 1041 (7th Cir. 1996), cert. denied, 520 U.S. 1146 (1997); Benson v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 62 F.3d 1108, 1114 (8th Cir. 1995).9 As the Seventh Circuit held in Eckles, “the ADA does not require disabled individuals to be accommodated by sacrificing the collectively bargained, bona fide seniority rights 9 For example, in Willis v. Pacific Maritime Ass’n, the Ninth Circuit held that “an employee’s proposed accommodation under the ADA is unreasonable if it conflicts with a bona fide seniority system established under a [collective bargaining agreement].” Willis, 162 F.3d at 566; see also Feliciano, 160 F.3d at 787 (“[T]he failure to automatically reassign [the employee] to that position – in violation of the rights of the person who received the position under the selection process outlined in the collective bargaining agreement and departmental policies– does not violate the ADA.”); Foreman, 117 F.3d at 810 (“[T]he ADA does not require an employer to take action inconsistent with the contractual rights of other workers under a collective bargaining agreement.”); Benson, 62 F.3d at 1114 (“The ADA does not require that [the employer] take action inconsistent with the contractual rights of other workers under a collective bargaining agreement.”). A panel of the D.C. Circuit reached a contrary holding in Aka v. Washington Hosp. Ctr., 116 F.3d 876 (D.C. Cir. 1997), but that opinion was vacated when the case was taken en banc. The en banc court’s opinion did not reach a holding on this issue, but its analysis is consistent with the rule that we adopt in this case. Aka v. Washington Hosp. Ctr., 156 F.3d 1284, 1301-03 & n.25 (D.C. Cir. 1998) (en banc). 13 of other employees.” Eckles, 94 F.3d at 1051. We agree with the Seventh Circuit that “collectively bargained seniority rights have a pre-existing special status in the law and that Congress to date has shown no intent to alter this status by the duties created under the ADA.” Id. at 1052.10 Accordingly, FPL is not required to grant either of Davis’s requested accommodations because they conflict with the seniority rights of other C&D employees under their union’s collective bargaining agreement. That agreement expressly distributes mandatory overtime by seniority, so that those with the least seniority are compelled to work overtime first. If Davis were given the accommodation of no overtime or selective overtime depending on Davis’s personal assessment of his back condition at the end of each shift, then more senior employees, who otherwise would not have to work overtime, would be required to do so, and that is not required by the ADA. See Kralik, 130 F.3d at 80-83 (finding accommodation of no forced overtime violates collective bargaining agreement and 10 In his Rule 60(b) Motion, Davis emphasized the EEOC’s “Policy Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation Under the ADA (“Policy Guidance”), which was issued after the district court granted summary judgment. That Policy Guidance poses this question: “Can an employer claim that a reasonable accommodation imposes an undue hardship simply because it violates a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)?” 12 Empl. Discrim. Rep. (BNA) 317 (Mar. 3, 1999). The Policy Guidance answers the question “no” and recommends analysis on a case-by-case basis, but notes that circuit courts have rejected this interpretation of the ADA. Joining these circuits, we find that this Policy Guidance is inconsistent with the ADA statute as construed by the courts before the EEOC issued its Policy Guidance. 14 therefore is not required by the ADA); Eckles, 94 F.3d at 1045, 1051-52 (holding accommodation of being protected from being “bumped” from position conflicts with the collectively bargained rights of others who otherwise would have seniority to bump employee, so that accommodation is not required by the ADA). Therefore, the district court properly held that Davis’s requested overtime accommodations were unreasonable as a matter of law because each conflicted with the applicable collective bargaining agreement.