Opinion ID: 790216
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Hammel's Inability to Perform the Job without Accommodation

Text: 30 Hammel had significant difficulties while attempting to perform the essential duties of a general laborer at the cheese factory. Further demonstrating Hammel's inability to perform the functions of his job in anywhere near a work-manlike manner was his inability to properly stamp the cheese wheels, and his likewise incapability of correctly forming, stacking, transporting the finished cheese product, and/or flipping the product, all essential to EGC's business. See supra pp. 856-58. This is not to mention the risk of injury that Hammel posed to his co-workers by spilling brine, tripping over hoses, and bumping into presses, walls, and fellow workers, some of which were undoubtedly caused by his patent carelessness. See id. Whether Hammel had problems performing his duties at EGC resulting from his disability or poor attitude is unimportant; however, what is germane, and is apparent from the record, is the fact that Hammel was unable to perform the essential functions of his job and meet the expectations of his employer. 31 We agree with the trial judge's conclusion that it is irrelevant ... whether it was [Hammel's] vision impairment or his refusal to take the proper care that caused him to bump into his co-workers or the equipment, to run pallets into the wall, or fail to turn and stack the cheese properly or to slam the cheese down on the table... [for][w]hatever the cause he has demonstrated his inability to perform the essential tasks of the job ... [and is] not a qualified individual within the meaning of the [ADA]. Hammel, 2003 WL 21665133, at -9, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11380, at -24 (emphasis added). As this court has made clear on a number of occasions, when the evidence demonstrates that an employee is incapable of performing the job, the employer need not isolate the disability-related causes for an employee's inferior performance from problems that stem from a poor attitude, insubordination, carelessness, or outright disregard for the safety of himself and his co-workers. See, e.g., Waggoner v. Olin Corp., 169 F.3d 481, 484-85 (7th Cir.1999); Palmer v. Circuit Court, 117 F.3d 351, 352 (7th Cir.1997); Siefken, 65 F.3d at 667. Instead, an employer is entitled to conclude that termination is warranted solely on the basis of the employee's patent inability to perform his job in manner that meets the essential requirements of that position. This is true even if, after further inquiry, an employer determines that the employee's inability to perform the job is due entirely to a disability. Matthews, 128 F.3d at 1195; see also Palmer, 117 F.3d at 352; Miller, 107 F.3d at 484-85. Either way, an employer is only in violation of the ADA if a terminated employee can establish that reasonable accommodations exist that would have enabled that person to perform the essential functions of his or her job. See Miller, 107 F.3d at 485-86. As demonstrated below, Hammel failed to put forth any such accommodations and thus cannot prevail. 32