Takeaway: An individual's inability to work will bar most ADA claims. Nonetheless, employers must avoid contributing to such inability to work as such may support a viable hostile work environment claim.
A regional sales manager with depression and anxiety could not establish disability discrimination because his disability prevented him from working, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.
In 2000, the plaintiff started working for a subsidiary of the Barnes Group Inc., a global provider of highly engineered products, differentiated industrial technologies and innovative solutions, as a regional sales manager. He then became a business development manager for another Barnes subsidiary. The plaintiff experienced significant stress in this role.
In October 2016, the plaintiff suffered a panic attack and requested a leave of absence through Jan. 18, 2017. Barnes approved that request. The plaintiff later requested an extension of his leave through June 13, 2017, which Barnes also approved.
During this leave, the plaintiff was prescribed a regimen of medication for depression and anxiety, underwent four to six months of therapy, started meditating, and developed relationships and activities outside work. By March 20, 2017, he told his health care provider that he was better and returned to work early on April 1, 2017.
Shortly after his return, the plaintiff's supervisor told him that Barnes had eliminated his position and created a new position for him as a "corporate...
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