Opinion ID: 4644704
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Start of assignment

Text: On July 6, 2017, Mr. Mannan provided CDOC with a “Fitness-to-Return Certification” (“FTR”)—a CDOC form that allows a health care provider to state whether an employee can return to work and if so, under what restrictions. See App., Vol. 1 at 94-95. Mr. Mannan’s FTR said he could work with the following restrictions until August 1, 2017:  “no bending/stooping/squatting”;  “no kneeling”;  “no crawling”;  “no standing for more than 1 hour[] each day”;  “no walking for more than 1 hour[] each day”;  “no working/climbing on elevated equipment”;  “no assaultive, physical control, and/or arrest situations”;  “no use . . . of lower extremity”; and  “no weight bearing on [his] r[ight] hip . . . for longer than 1 h[our] [at] a time.” Id. at 95. 5 CDOC informed Mr. Mannan that “[d]ue to the nature of [the] restrictions, and due to the needs of the facility,” it could not provide him with a placement that would “adequately meet [his] work restrictions.” Id. at 96. On July 13, 2017, Mr. Mannan submitted a new FTR listing the following work restrictions as necessary until August 13, 2017:  “no standing for more than . . . 1 h[our] at a time” and  “no walking for more than . . . 30 min[utes] at a time.” Id. at 98. In response, the DRDC Warden, Ryan Long, provided Mr. Mannan with a “transitional duty assignment,” from July 17, 2017, to August 13, 2017, to the DRDC control room. See id. at 99 (all-capitalization omitted); App., Vol. 2 at 182.4 The control room, also known as the Master Control Unit (“MCU”), functions as the prison’s “command center.” See App., Vol. 2 at 222; App., Vol. 3 at 296. Postings there include both sedentary and non-sedentary work. Sedentary tasks include answering 4 Typically, “Correctional Officers rotate through a variety of posts.” See App., Vol. 2 at 178. This practice “ensures that the facility is able to maintain the staffing levels required by law despite . . . chronic job vacancies,” and it satisfies the need to “accommodate employees who are ill, or who take holidays and/or annual leave.” See id. at 178-79. CDOC can, however, accommodate some medical work restrictions by providing COs with a “temporary work assignment,” or “[t]ransitional duty.” See id. at 181-82. Transitional duty “is intended only to assist employees with temporary medical conditions” and “is not intended to provide light duty positions to employees with physical limitations on a long-term or semi-permanent or permanent basis.” App., Vol. 3 at 342. It is “offered at [the warden’s] discretion,” and may be “terminate[d] . . . at any time, based on the business needs of the facility.” See App., Vol. 2 at 181-82. 6 phones and radios, coordinating officers’ schedules, and distributing equipment. Nonsedentary tasks include conducting headcounts, assisting with meal service, and escorting civilians around the facility. During Mr. Mannan’s temporary assignment to the control room, he performed only sedentary duties.