PTSD: Court Sees No Disability Discrimination.
Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession
There is no doubt this employee’s post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disability. However, his threatening verbalizations and behavior toward a physician at the hospital are a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the hospital to terminate him despite his disability.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NEW YORK November 8, 2016Eight years after starting work at the hospital a surgical technician took a medical leave from his job after being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While out on leave he visited the hospital and reportedly acted out aggressively, physically confronted a physician and threatened to kill the physician. The surgical tech was given the benefit of the doubt. On his return from medical leave he was only told to get counseling for his communication skills.
He went out again on medical leave. However, he had used up his twelve weeks guaranteed by the Family and Medical Leave Act and was fired for what was considered an unexcused absence.
The US District Court for the Northern District of New York ruled that the fired technician’s PTSD is a disability. Nevertheless, the Court ruled that his aggressive and threatening verbalizations and behavior amounted to a legitimate, nondiscriminatory justification for his termination. The courts tend to separate the fact that an employee has a genuine disability from the employee’s grossly unacceptable behavior brought on by the disability. A disabled employee’s unacceptable behavior apart from the employee’s disability itself can be grounds for termination.
Welsh v. Rome, 2016 WL 6603216 (N.D.N.Y., November 8, 2016).More references from nursinglaw.com
http://www.nursinglaw.com/ptsd.htm
http://www.nursinglaw.com/PTSD-disability-discrimination.htm
http://www.nursinglaw.com/disability-discrimination-PTSD.htm