Colwell v. Rite Aid Corp., No. 08-4675
Colwell v. Rite Aid Corp., No. 08-4675, concerned an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) action claiming constructive discharge based on plaintiff's partial blindness. The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for defendant in part, holding that no reasonable juror could find that the actions to which plaintiff referred made her workplace so unbearable that a reasonable person would have felt compelled to resign. However, the court reversed in part where the ADA contemplated that employers may need to make reasonable shift changes in order to accommodate a disabled employee's disability-related difficulties in getting to work.
As the court wrote: "Under the circumstances presented in this case, a reasonable jury could thus conclude that either party violated the duty to engage with good faith in the interactive process. Because genuine issues of material fact exist on that issue, we cannot affirm the grant of summary judgment on the basis that Rite Aid fully complied with the requirements of the ADA. A fact-finder must settle that dispute."