refusal to accommodate store employee with temporary disability

Two things that show your complaint is without merit:

1) Your daughter is NOT covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act
as mononucleosis is NOT a disability, but an illness that goes away
with treatment The ADA only covers permanent disabilities, not
temporary ones that are really just sicknesses.

2) Mononecleosis is CONTAGIOUS, which is an excellent reason why your
daughter should NOT be allowed to work at all until she is better and
NOT contagiouys.

who were concerned that your daughter's very contagious condition
(that's why they call it the "kissing disease") is what may actually
be keeping them from letting her work.

However, here's another thought. My neighbor recently had very
serious neck surgery to replace a bulging disk (she was treated using
a cadaver bone, so it was sort of a transplant!) She was a postal
worker/mail carrier before she got injured (likely from all the heavy
bags and such she has to lift and carry.) and because of the long time
it takes for that newly fused bone to heal properly and the high
possibility that it could be reinjured, causing greater damage, her
Dr. would only allow her to come back to work on light duty.

The problem is that they don't HAVE a light duty, job at the post
office. Pretty much every role requires a great deal of standing and
walking, not to mention, being able to pick up objects that could
weigh as much as 50 lbs.

What is the post office supposed to find for her to do for the next
3-4 months until she is fully healed? She can sort her mail, but
can't put it in her truck. She can deliver some items, but she could
still get stuck with something she can't lift. And what if someone
has an item for her to bring back on her route? Who will help her
load it?

What if she misjudges the weight of a box and goes to pick it up and
winds up damaging that disk more? Her Dr. has already said, certain
kinds of damage before she's healed could leave her paralyzed.

But according to ADA, my friend is disabled.

How do they accommodate that?

I'm actually hoping that the reason they would not allow her to work
is because Mono is a CONTAGIOUS ILLNESS. This is a grocery store for
goodness sake.

Also, I have had mono -- it is not considered a disability, not even a
short term one. It does make you feel horrible and crummy for what
seems like forever, but it is not an illness.

Unions really DO fight for the middle class....oh wait...

"union won't allow it"

I won't purchase goods from ANY union affiliated shop for reasons like
this....

I just did a google search and found the eeoc's website, which covers
this, and no, mono is NOT considered to be a temporary disability.
"Temporary disabilities" have to meet certain criteria, and mono
doesn't. Neither does recovery for most surgeries.

http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/902cm.html

I find it hard to believe that mono would qualify as a "temporary
disability' under the ADA. It's an illness and it lasts about a
month.

I doubt they mean by getting everyone sick!

Mononucleosis is contagious. I can absolutely understand why the
company or the union might want her to take the time off. Especially
working in a retail setting.

If she's union, she probably has some kind of sick pay or disability
pay that would kick in. I'd be going that route and give her the time
to rest and possibly not infect anyone else. While getting paid.

Just imagine if she sneezes in the vicinity of another employee or
customer, or licking her fingers to grab bags or papers, the panic
that can ensue. Do you let everyone know? Or do you not, and take the
chance another employee might accidentally take a sip from her straw
and oops...wrong drink, that one wasn't mine ha ha...

I can totally understand why the company would rather she just stayed
home.

And whatever the ADA states, I doubt it has anything to do with
contagious, infectious disabilities when you are working in a very
public setting like that.

1) You may need to review the ADA rules to see if the illness is
covered under it. Some site say ambiguous while others say it's
covered.


2) They have every right to have this put in writing. You cannot
simply walk up and say "Give her accommodations" without filling out
forms etc.

So the letter isn't a wrong thing to do. If you write it, I recommend
including a copy of the doctor's information.

I've done this too. I received accommodations in college once and had
to fill out a ton of paperwork including the paperwork from my
doctor.


3) if this doesn't work then you'll probably have to talk to a lawyer.
Or consider using FMLA - but remember that too will require paperwork
and not just verbally asking for it.