Employment Law
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/nba.30318 |
| Date | 01 May 2017 |
| Published date | 01 May 2017 |
10
MAY 2017NONPROFIT BUSINESS ADVISOR
© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company • All rights reserved
DOI: 10.1002/nba
Employment Law
Here’s a look at several recent notable lawsuits involving nonprots. Nonprots should regularly review
employment laws and their compliance efforts to avert similar issues.
Disability
Former employee gets her day in court
Jane Doe was diagnosed with bipolar disorder
when she was 16. However, she adequately managed
her condition through the years with psychotherapy
and medications.
In January 2014, she became an outreach counselor
for the nonprot Directions for Youth and Families
Inc. About a month after that, Doe disclosed her
condition to supervisor Frances Deutschle.
After taking a prescribed steroid for shingles in
July, Doe had a manic episode that caused her to
miss work for several days.
In early August, Doe’s psychiatrist told her the
prescribed steroid was contraindicated for her bipolar
disorder, and ordered her to rest for a few days.
After she returned to work, CEO Duane Casares
directed Deutschle to provide him a list of all of Doe’s
mistakes. The list she provided included: boundary
issues, the transportation of a client unattended, an
overly emotional reaction to the transfer of certain
clients and having a client’s prescription slip mailed
to Directions.
In a meeting with Doe, Casares said he was not
concerned about her performance, and that she had
merely made “rookie mistakes” or “beginner errors.”
At some point during the meeting, Doe told Casares
she had consulted an employment attorney versed in
the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to
her, Casares responded with words to the effect of “I
know all about the ADA and everything, but due to
the unpredictable and sporadic nature of your mental
illness, we can’t have you working with this popula-
tion,” and that Directions “can’t have you walking in
and out of these clients’ lives.”
After Casares red her a few days later, Doe led
a suit claiming violations of the ADA.
Directions responded with a motion for summary
judgment.
District Judge Algenon Marbley said an employee’s
bipolar disorder was an impairment encompassed by
the ADA, and ruled that telling an employee she was
being terminated because of mental illness amounted
to direct evidence of discriminatory intent.
Judge Marbley said the next issue to address
was whether Doe was “otherwise qualied” for the
position despite her disability. He decided there was
enough probative evidence to submit to a jury to
decide whether Doe was qualied for her job. It in-
cluded: several notations in her employee le that her
productivity was “good”; and the fact that mailing the
prescription slip to Directions—allegedly her gravest
error—had not been a violation of any specic rule
or directive. Further, he observed that all of Doe’s
work had been covered by other employees while she
was on medical leave after the rare and unexpected
manic episode, and there were no resulting client care
issues noted.
EMPLOYEE WINS ➔ Judge Marbley refused
to grant summary judgment in favor of Directions,
stating that a reasonable jury could conclude Doe
was qualied for the position and could competently
perform her duties.
[Doe v. Directions for Youth and Families Inc., U.S.
District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, No.
15-CV-2861, 10/19/2016].
Disability
Former employee’s suit goes nowhere
Donald Morgan began working for the City
of Tallahassee in 2008 as a mechanic in its eet-
management division.
In late 2013, Morgan began talking excessively
with the other mechanics. In addition, he allegedly
told untrue and humiliating stories about a supervi-
sor. At about the same time, Morgan’s wife led for
divorce and obtained a domestic violence injunction
against him.
Counseling sessions and a reprimand did not help
the situation.
In April 2014, the city referred him to an inde-
pendent psychologist for a tness-for-duty evalua-
tion. She eventually concluded that Morgan’s verbal
and interpersonal behaviors were a major problem
and that he might have become destabilized by his
divorce. She reported to the city that Morgan was
not t for duty.
Based on that recommendation, the city immedi-
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