Multiple accommodation attempts demonstrated employer's good faith, 8th Cir. says

Dive Brief:

Despite not finding an accommodation, the Northern States Power Company acted in good faith in attempting to accommodate a lineman with a disability, an appeals court said, upholding a lower court's summary judgment for the employer (Sharbono v. Northern States Power Co. dba Excel Energy, Inc., No 16-432, 8th Cir., Sept. 6, 2018)).
Following a foot injury, James Sharbono's doctor informed his employer that he could not wear steel-toed boots. Northern required workers to wear steel-toes boots marked with a stamp indicating compliance with an international standard so, working with a disability consultant, Northern offered Sharbono several suggestions to mitigate the impact of wearing steel-toed boots. The suggestions weren't effective, however, and Sharbono began missing work. Eventually, the company determined that Sharbono's only options were to seek another job with the company or apply for disability retirement benefits. Still, it continued conversations with a manufacturer about custom boots.
Sharbono retired and sued, alleging federal and state law violations. A federal district court granted summary judgment for Northern and Sharbono appealed. The appeals court upheld the lower court's ruling, noting that "Northern met twice with Sharbono ... about his request for accommodation and offered to help Sharbono with the process of applying for a different job with the company." Moreover, "[a]fter Sharbono elected to retire with disability retirement benefits, Northern still attempted to obtain a boot that would allow him to work."

Dive Insight:

Employers are expected to engage in an interactive, good-faith process — often called the "interactive process" — to look for an effective accommodation for an employee or applicant with a disability.

A failure to do so isn't a stand-alone violation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but it can be evidence of discrimination. State laws vary as well.

An employer can demonstrate good faith in many ways, such as meeting with the employee; requesting information about the employee’s conditions and limitations; asking the employee what accommodation he or she believes would be effective; and discussing available alternatives if the request is too burdensome. And as Northern did, employers can consult with disability accommodation experts like those at the Job Accommodation Network, a free resource for both employers and employees.

Additionally, experts have have suggested that, to ensure that ADA accommodation requests start off on a legally sound basis, HR should train supervisors to ask: "How can I help you?" They also should be instructed to document each step of the process — a move that demonstrates the employer's good-faith efforts should the issue find its way to litigation.