Who knew? Being awake at work remains an essential function

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit (whose rulings apply to all Mississippi employers) recently addressed a former employee's claim that his firing amounted to disability discrimination because the conduct leading to his termination, sleeping on the job, was purportedly caused by his disability, diabetes. Employing common sense, the court held sleeping on the job clearly prevented him from being a qualified individual with a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Let's take a closer look.

Facts

In October 2015, Champion National Security Incorporated hired George Clark as a personnel manager. In this position, he was responsible for educating employees on company policies, including the “alertness policy,” which forbid employees from sleeping at work.

Clark was an insulin-dependent Type II diabetic. Upon hire, he requested as accommodations a refrigerator in his office in which to store insulin and flexibility to leave work to attend doctors' appointments, all of which Champion provided.

In August 2016, a coworker told Clark's supervisor, Paul Bents, that Clark was closing his office door for long periods of time and that she could hear him snoring. The next month, Bents received a picture anonymously by text message showing Clark asleep at his desk. According to the alertness policy, lack of alertness at work (which included sleeping or giving the appearance of sleeping) is grounds for immediate termination.