August 05, 2026
ADA Reasonable Accommodation: Terminate, Transfer, or Leave of Absence?
I’ve had this conversation so many times over the years and suspect you have, too. An employee provides a doctor’s note indicating that due to a disability, the employee can no longer perform the essential functions of the job, with or without a reasonable accommodation. The note indicates the employee can perform light duty. What now?
Do you: (1) terminate employment because the employee can no longer perform the essential functions of the job with or without a reasonable accommodation; (2) place the employee on an unpaid leave of absence until they are 100% healed and released to full duty; or (3) transfer the employee to a light duty position?
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (covering MD, VA, WV, NC, SC) reminds us that the answer may be #3 writing, “This case requires us to consider whether it is consistent with the ADA for an employer to decline to reassign a disabled employee to an available position he would be able to perform, and instead to keep the employee on indefinite, unpaid leave. We hold that it is not.”
In this case, the employer let the employee remain on an unpaid leave of absence for 16 months rather than placing him in another job for which he could perform the essential functions. Why? The record is not clear but here are a few pitfalls that might have been avoided.
The manager contacted HR regarding the employee’s request for a “light duty” position. The manager did not recall receiving a response from HR and he did not follow up. OOPS.
After the employee expressed interest in at least two light duty jobs (sales and customer service), no one, not the manager or HR, contacted him. OOPS.
While an employer generally has the right to provide its preferred accommodation when two or more reasonable accommodations are available, the chosen accommodation must be “effective.” The court found that putting the employee on unpaid leave for 16 months rather than in a paying job was not an effective accommodation and placed the employee in “professional purgatory—not yet terminated but not working either.” OOPS.
So when could an unpaid leave of absence be a reasonable accommodation in lieu of transfer to a light duty job? Join this month’s webcast, “ADA Update 2026: Practice Pitfalls and Proactive Practices” August 26th from 12-1:15 p.m. ET as we consider that question and more!
