Opinion ID: 1990849
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Employer's Obligation to Accommodate an Employee's Work Restrictions

Text: [¶ 14] Relying on 39-A M.R.S.A. § 218 (2001), Jandreau contends that although she cannot return to her pre-injury job and cannot perform the alternative job that was offered to her, Shaw's has a duty to take greater steps to accommodate her work restrictions and return her to work. Indeed, section 218 establishes an employer's obligation under certain circumstances to reinstate and make reasonable accommodations for the physical condition of an injured employee. [5] [¶ 15] However, the protections of section 218 do not automatically apply whenever there is a work-related injury, but are invoked only [u]pon petition of an injured employee. 39-A M.R.S.A. § 218. Jandreau's view that an employer must, in effect, honor the requirements of section 218 in every workers' compensation case, even when the employee has not filed a petition for reinstatement, is contrary to the plain language of the statute, and we have previously rejected this interpretation. Dahms v. Osteopathic Hosp. of Me., 2001 ME 145, ¶ n. 3, 782 A.2d 774, 777; Dufour v. Internal Med. Assocs., 1998 ME 169, ¶ 7 n. 4, 713 A.2d 339, 341; Thompson v. Claw Island Foods, 1998 ME 101, ¶¶ 4-6, 713 A.2d 316, 317-18. [¶ 16] In the absence of a petition requesting reinstatement, employers are encouraged by the Act to accommodate work-related injuries and return employees to work, but are not required to do so. [6] We decline Jandreau's invitation to read into the anti-discrimination statute a requirement that the employer must create light-duty employment for an employee in the absence of a petition by the employee for reinstatement pursuant to section 218. Before the strict reciprocal rights and responsibilities of section 218 are imposed, the employee must first make a positive assertion of a willingness to return to work by filing a petition seeking reinstatement. Jandreau has not filed such a petition.