Reasonable Accomodations/Reassignment

[cbccern]

I have been a registered nurse for almost 25 years. In December of 2016, I suffered a left occipital lobe stroke leading to a complete right homonymous hemianopsia. I was able to return to work after a week. Unfortunately, I suffered a second occipital lobe stroke a month after the first one. I have left visual field deficits now, in addition to the right homonymous hemianopsia, I have lost about 80% of myu visual field. The neurologist refuses to okay my return to work with regard to direct patient care. She is okay with reassignment to a position in case management. There are vacant positions in case management within the organization. My employer required me to apply for these positions. I also applied for another job within the organization which pays approximately less than half of my previous pay. I have an interview for the lower paying position this week. It is my opinion/belief that I shouldn't have to interview for any of these positions based upon the ADA/EEOC. I have applied for SSDI. I do not have disability, but am okay financially for the next few months. My plan is to take the lower paying job if offered, since they are dragging their feet on the case management positions. Either way, I plan to file suit with the EEOC since I believe that they are not following the letter of the law.

[Crystal-Wings, LVN]

Have you tried contacting your state's department of rehabilitation? They help people with disabilities find jobs and get accomdations. Have you thought of home health (shift work home health, not visits).

[cbccern]

Thank you for your suggestion Crystal-Wings. Unfortunately, they are closed today due to inclement weather but I will attempt again tomorrow.

[MunoRN, RN]

Keep in mind that Reasonable Accommodations doesn't require employers to really go out of their way to accommodate a disability, it's probably more accurate to look at it as prohibiting unreasonable non-accommodation.

If you would require additional training to take a case management position that another applicant would not then the employer is not required to accommodate as that is considered an unreasonable accommodation since it would negatively affect the employer. Accommodations also cannot negatively affect other employees, for instance if the position was given out based on seniority and you skipped over another nurse with more seniority for the position.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

I think you need a lawyer.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I agree that you should be talking with a lawyer who is well-versed in the relevant aspects of the law. Employers are not obligated to provide new jobs for people who become disabled. The standard is "reasonable accommodations" and that is a big gray area open to interpretation. If the jobs they have available have requirements that you do not meet, they are not obligated to hire you.

Get advice from a professional legal expert. Good luck to you.