Terminate or ADA consideration?

pattyo

We have an employee whose performance and attendance have declined over the past couple of years. She was recently demoted from her supervisory position. She has several medical conditions that have impacted her attendance. We suspect the combination of medication or abuse of medications is affecting her performance and attitude. It was suggested about a year ago that she may want to consider some type of disability claim but nothing was done. Now that she is not performing up to the level required for her position and after working with her for several months we are looking at terminating her. Do we need to ask her if she wants to pursue a disability claim in lieu of termination or should we even bring it up?

LindaS

When you say medical issues that impact her attendance, has the FMLA route been addressed? If not, and if she is eligible, that would be the first route to take. If this has and she has exhausted this leave, you will need to determine whether or not she can perform the essential functions of her position with or without an accomodation, assuming she qualfies as ADA. In dealing with her performance problems, has she brought up her medical issues? My thought is that she has some responsibility to notify you of a disability and provide medical documentation verifying it, as well as what accomodations would allow her to do her job. If she fails in doing that, do not treat her as if she is disabled because that then makes her qualified under the law.

Best suggestion is to talk to your attorney for some advice before making any final decisions.