Are hemorrhoids an ADA disability? The EEOC thinks so

A new case from the Northeast caught my attention. An employee for FedEx sued for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), claiming he was fired because of the effect of his hemorrhoids. The trial court found no ADA disability, dismissing the case. It’s now on appeal, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a legal brief supporting his position.

Effects of hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids are defined as swollen and inflamed veins around the anus or in the lower rectum. Christopher Butler, a worker at a FedEx warehouse, was afflicted with them in what sounds like a Biblical plague, per the EEOC brief:

At times, the pain prevented him from sitting on hard surfaces and he had to use a “donut pillow.” At others, the pain was so intense that he was on “bedrest with suppositories.” To minimize painful bowel movements, Butler sometime avoided eating, causing him to lose weight. On multiple occasions, he “had to leave work . . . because of his pain,” and later, “it had gotten so bad, he was leaving . . . in the middle of the day” (quoting from Butler’s testimony).

Butler ultimately had surgery for the condition. Citing his “history of protected absences” under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), he was put on a performance improvement plan (PIP). He was fired for his failure to successfully complete the PIP along with other purported performance issues.

Disabilty: 1, 2, 3