The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed a district court grant of summary judgment on an employee's retaliation and disability discrimination claims.

The employee worked as a customer service agent between 2003 and 2008. She took leave in September of 2007 after suffering a non-work-related back injury, and her physician diagnosed her with sciatica. The employee returned to work part-time with medical restrictions for six to eight weeks. From that point forward, the employee had difficulty even working the part-time schedule due to ongoing pain. The company subsequently terminated her employment, but advised her that her position would remain open temporarily in case she would be able to return to work full-time. The employee did not return to full-time work.

In concluding that the district court properly granted summary judgment on the employee's disability claim, the Sixth Circuit reasoned that the employee was not a qualified person with a disability because she could not, with or without reasonable accommodation, perform essential functions of her job. Evidence shows that full-time work is an essential function of the employer's customer service agent position, and the employee did not establish that she requested a reasonable accommodation. Even if she had, part-time work was not a reasonable accommodation because the employee had been unable to perform the essential functions of the position working part-time in the past, and the company was not required to create a new part-time position for her. Read more.