In Rodney McMillan v. City of New York, McMillan, a 10 year employee of the City of New York, alleged that the City had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), when it penalized him for his tardiness and where it failed to provide him with the later flex start time he requested. Under the ADA, covered employers may not discriminate against an employee because of his or her disability and they must provide the employee with reasonable accommodations unless the employer can show that it would be an undue hardship to make the requested accommodation. To establish that one has been improperly discriminated against under the ADA, an individual must show that 1) her employer is subject to the ADA 2) she was disabled within the meaning of the ADA 3) she was otherwise qualified to perform the essential functions of her job, with or without reasonable accommodation and 4) she suffered adverse employment action. McMillan was a schizophrenic man who had worked for the City for 10 years without a problem, arriving late but leaving late, always working the 35 hours required of him. McMillan was late to work because of the medication that he took to treat his schizophrenia. Abruptly, his supervisor stopped approving his late arrivals, and ultimately it was recommended that his job be terminated due to his “history” of tardiness. The Court determined that arriving to work at a certain and consistent time may not have been an essential function of McMillan’s job because McMillan had been performing his job without problem for many years despite his late arrivals, and that the City had a general policy that employees could arrive at any point between 9 am – 10:00 am. This decision puts real teeth into the ADA and hopefully will lead to its continued enforcement so that disabled employees can continue to prosper in the workplace.
