Opinion ID: 2759857
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Administrative Duties

Text: The EEOC carried its prima facie summary-judgment burden to show Sones was qualified to perform the computer-related tasks of a Team Leader. As an initial matter, LHC and the EEOC debate the extent to which Sones’s disability precluded her from performing these essential functions. LHC points to notes from a meeting between Sones, Guchereau, and Taggard itemizing Sones’s errors 5 and to deposition transcripts highlighting Sones’s inability to 5 These include failures to schedule appropriate patient care, rude communication with field staff, disorganization, inability to answer questions, and clerical mistakes. 14 Case: 13-60703 Document: 00512866071 Page: 15 Date Filed: 12/11/2014 No. 13-60703 type, use a computer, and remember passwords. LHC argues that Sones was unable to perform even the most basic computer-related functions of the Team Leader position, and that her difficulties predated her seizure. The EEOC concedes that Sones struggled, but it contests LHC’s assertion that her difficulties predated her seizure. Sones may not have been aware of these criticisms, as she had not yet had a performance review as Team Leader. Finally, Sones contends that her limitations were largely due to an unusually high dosage of anti-seizure medication, which Sones was in the process of tapering. If Sones was indeed unable to perform her essential computer-based tasks, then LHC had a duty to work with her toward a reasonable accommodation. As noted, “once the employee presents a request for an accommodation, the employer is required to engage in [an] interactive process so that together they can determine what reasonable accommodations might be available.” Chevron Phillips, 570 F.3d at 622. In Chevron Phillips, this Court considered an accommodations dispute in which the employee “attempted to discuss the terms of her release with [her employer] to clarify her needs, but [the employer] refused.” Id. at 622. We reversed summary judgment, concluding that a reasonable jury could find that the employer “did not attempt to entertain the requested accommodation.” Id. The same is true here. Sones expressly reached out to her supervisors, indicating that she wanted temporary help using computer programs and remembering her passwords in light of her high medication levels. Faced with Sones’s request for “extra help,” Taggard, her supervisor, kept silent and walked away. On this record, a reasonable jury could find that Sones reached out to LHC for accommodation and was denied an interactive process. Because the EEOC has identified a genuine dispute of material fact regarding whether 15 Case: 13-60703 Document: 00512866071 Page: 16 Date Filed: 12/11/2014 No. 13-60703 LHC satisfied its duty to accommodate Sones’s disability, the district court erred in granting summary judgment on this issue.