On April 10, 2024, the Justice Department announced that it filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas against West Memphis School District (WMSD) for denying an employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation of temporary telework, in violation of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, which may include telework, when it does not pose an undue hardship to the employer.
The lawsuit alleges that WMSD denied the request of a school science curriculum specialist with a disability temporary telework as a reasonable accommodation to avoid damage to her health. WMSD allegedly denied the request without discussing it, or possible alternative accommodations, with the employee. As a result of WMSD’s denial, the employee claims she was forced to resign.
For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. For more information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (TTY 1-833-610-1264) or visit www.ada.gov. If you believe you’ve been discriminated against based on disability, please submit a report online at www.civilrights.justice.gov.
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