Employment Discrimination: Migraines, Allergies Not Disabilities, Court Rules
Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession
June 1997
Quick Summary: Migraine headaches and allergies are not employment disabilities as the term disability is defined for purposes of employment discrimination laws, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi has ruled.
The court felt compelled to dismiss a home health aide’s disability discrimination lawsuit against her employer. Her physicians certified that she could not call on patients in their homes, due to her medical problems, but should have a position where she stayed in the office or clinic all the time.
The hospital that was the parent corporation of the home health agency permitted the aide to file eight applications for transfer to eight separate clerical and technical support positions, and interviewed her for six of those positions, even though a hospital employee normally would only be allowed to file four transfer applications within one year. However, her skills were not sufficient for any of the positions, she was not allowed to transfer and she was terminated.
The court went to some length to show that the hospital had made a strong effort to accommodate this employee’s needs, but was unable to do so because her skills were not transferable to any available position consistent with her medical restrictions.
But the real issue, the court felt, was that migraine headaches and allergies were not what the law was getting at when disability discrimination was outlawed. The court did not believe the aide’s medical problems were fabricated, and accepted the fact they interfered with the duties of a home health aide. Even still, an employee’s problems must meet the legal definition of a disability as defined by law, for a court to allow a lawsuit.
Howard vs. Medical Center, 939 F. Supp. 505 (N.D. Miss., 1996).