“This case requires us to consider whether it is consistent with the ADA for an employer to decline to reassign a disabled employee to an available position he would be able to perform, and instead to keep the employee on indefinite, unpaid leave.”
Vacating summary judgment on the ADA failure-to-accommodate claim of an Orkin pest control technician who, as a result of a knee injury, could no longer perform his job’s physically demanding duties, and who repeatedly asked to be reassigned to a less demanding position but was instead placed on indefinite leave for 16 months before he resigned, the Fourth Circuit explained that while “keeping an employee in indefinite unpaid leave may be a reasonable accommodation under certain circumstances, it was not here” and the evidence indicated that a reasonable accommodation was possible. The court affirmed summary judgment, however, against his unlawful termination claim finding he failed to exhaust those administrative remedies. Judge Quattlebaum concurred in part, concurred in the judgment in part, and dissented in part (Dieng v. Orkin, LLC, No. 25-1221 (4th Cir. Aug. 5, 2026)).
In his role as pest control technician, the employee was required to kneel, climb, crawl, and lift heavy equipment often exceeding 50 pounds. He also sold pest control services to customers and was eligible to earn commissions from those sales.
Injury. In February 2016, he slipped and injured his right knee while servicing a building. He was cleared to...
[Sportschosun Jang Jong-ho] A total of 34.789 billion won in false National Health Insurance claims was detected at 839 health care institutions over the past four years (2022-2025). According to d...