Opinion ID: 156310
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mr. Rascon's requested leave of absence was a reasonable accommodation.

Text: 45 The district court concluded that the leave of absence Mr. Rascon requested was a reasonable accommodation. Aplt's App. vol. I at 41-42. U S West argues that the district court erred in so concluding. This is a mixed question of law and fact which primarily involves the consideration of legal principles. Thus, we review the district court's conclusion de novo. 46 U S West frames the issue as whether attendance is an essential function of Mr. Rascon's job. Aplt's Brief at 29. That simply is not the relevant inquiry when a reasonable accommodation of disability leave is at issue. Under these circumstances, the question of whether attendance is an essential function is equivalent to the question of what kind of leave policy the company has. As we shall discuss, U S West's own policies offer various kinds of disability leave, both paid and unpaid. 47 Under the ADA, prohibited discrimination includes failure to make 'reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability.'  Lowe v. Angelo's Italian Foods, Inc., 87 F.3d 1170, 1174 (10th Cir.1996) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A)). An allowance of time for medical care or treatment may constitute a reasonable accommodation. Hudson v. MCI Telecommunications Corp., 87 F.3d 1167, 1169 (10th Cir.1996). However, an indefinite unpaid leave is not a reasonable accommodation where the plaintiff fails to present evidence of the expected duration of her impairment. Id.; see also Myers v. Hose, 50 F.3d 278, 283 (4th Cir.1995) (holding that reasonable accommodation does not require the [employer] to wait indefinitely for [the plaintiff's] medical conditions to be corrected). The Hudson court noted that [e]xamples of possible accommodations include 'permitting the use of accrued paid leave or providing additional unpaid leave for necessary treatment.'  Hudson, 87 F.3d at 1168 (quoting 29 C.F.R. Pt. 1630, Appendix to Part 1630--Interpretive Guidance to Title I of the ADA, § 1630.2(o )). The plaintiff in Hudson failed to present evidence of the expected duration of her impairment, a course of treatment, or a prognosis; therefore, the court affirmed summary judgment in favor of the employer. 48 Hudson is distinguishable from the case at bar. Before Mr. Rascon left for Menlo Park, he told Ms. Sullivan that the expected duration of his treatment was estimated at four months. In early March, Dr. Truitt received a report from Dr. Finley indicating that Mr. Rascon needed approximately four months to complete the program. In actuality, Mr. Rascon was a patient in the Menlo Park program for a little less than five months. Furthermore, U S West was aware of the nature of Mr. Rascon's course of treatment, and U S West was aware of why Mr. Rascon was undergoing this treatment. Finally, the prognosis from Mr. Rascon's doctors was good. His doctors thought that the program was very likely to improve Mr. Rascon's work and home life by assisting him to cope with his posttraumatic stress disorder. 49 An employer need not make a reasonable accommodation that would cause an undue hardship. Den Hartog v. Wasatch Academy, 129 F.3d 1076, 1087 (10th Cir.1997) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(5)(A)). The employer ... bears the burden of persuasion on whether a proposed accommodation would impose an undue hardship. Smith v. Ameritech, 129 F.3d 857, 866 (6th Cir.1997). Undue hardship means an action requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of various factors. 42 U.S.C. § 12111(10)(A). The factors to be considered in determining whether an accommodation would cause an employer undue hardship are, among others: the nature and cost of the accommodation; the number of persons employed by the company; the financial resources of the company; and the impact of the accommodation upon the operation of the company. 42 U.S.C. § 12111(10)(B). U S West contends that the leave which it did grant Mr. Rascon was an extraordinary accommodation and that it met with difficulties because other employees had to cover Mr. Rascon's responsibilities. Although U S West characterizes the departmental leaves as extraordinary, in actuality, these leaves of absence were less accommodating than company policy required, and the corresponding conditions U S West attached to the leaves of absence were more restrictive than company policy allowed. 50 When U S West granted Mr. Rascon back-to-back departmental leaves in increments of thirty days conditioned on receiving information from Mr. Rascon's doctors, it was not following its own policies. Under U S West's leave policy, an informal departmental leave of less than thirty days could have been granted by Ms. Sullivan alone without any approval from U S West's Health Benefits Committee. Aplt's App. vol. III at 368. Furthermore, a departmental leave does not require validation; that is, an employee is not required to give an explanation to U S West as to why he or she needs the leave. Aplt's App. vol. IV at 389. 51 When an employee requests more than thirty days leave, as Mr. Rascon did, then more formal extended leave periods are available. U S West's Anticipated Disability Leave of Absence provided for up to six months of unpaid leave with guaranteed reinstatement. The employee must apply for this leave thirty days in advance; however, the policy provides that an employee may use vacation time while waiting on a pending application. The only validation required is that the employee provide U S West a doctor's statement as proof of a planned medical treatment. Aple's Supp.App. at 53. 52 Another option available under U S West's leave policy is a Personal Leave of Absence. This option provides for up to twelve months of leave. When requesting personal leave, an employee does not need to share with U S West the reasons for the leave. A personal leave comes with no compensation and no guarantee of reinstatement. Aple's Supp.App. at 60. 53 U S West also had in place, at the time that Mr. Rascon requested an accommodation of leave, a sickness and accident disability plan. Under this policy, because of Mr. Rascon's seniority with the company, U S West was required to pay Mr. Rascon's full salary for a period of thirty-nine weeks and fifty percent of his salary for an additional thirteen weeks. Id. at 72. In order to be eligible for this paid disability leave, Mr. Rascon was required to report his disability to his supervisor, place himself under a physician's care, follow the recommended treatment, and furnish satisfactory medical certification. Id. at 73. 54 Thus, Ms. Sullivan was not following U S West's generous leave policy when she informed Mr. Rascon that she could not grant him a departmental leave because he had not provided Health Services with the appropriate information. Ms. Sullivan clearly had the authority to grant a departmental leave on her own without any explanation from Mr. Rascon. Furthermore, aside from departmental leave, there were various other more appropriate and accommodating options which Ms. Sullivan could have explored with Mr. Rascon, including paid disability benefits or an unpaid anticipated disability leave. Ms. Sullivan testified that the reason she did not explore alternatives was because Mr. Rascon did not request a particular kind of leave. Aplt's App. vol. III at 375. However, there is no dispute that Mr. Rascon stated to Ms. Sullivan that even if U S West denied paid disability leave, he wanted to attend the treatment program in Menlo Park. Mr. Rascon was determined to seek treatment even if it meant that U S West would not pay him during his absence. Any of the alternatives discussed above would have constituted a reasonable accommodation. 55 There was no evidence presented to the district court as to U S West's overall financial resources. Aplt's App. vol. I at 50. However, U S West is a global operation with 50,000 to 60,000 employees. Id. Furthermore, U S West did not replace Mr. Rascon while he was in Menlo Park, even when it claimed it could no longer grant departmental leaves that came with guaranteed reinstatement. Id. Under the circumstances, the fact that Mr. Rascon's duties were covered by co-workers while he was on leave does not establish that granting Mr. Rascon leave until he completed the treatment program would have caused U S West undue hardship. U S West failed to carry its burden of demonstrating that any of the alternative accommodations would have caused it undue hardship. Thus, we conclude that leave to attend the Menlo Park treatment program was a reasonable accommodation. 56