Legal developments—roundup of employment-related news

✍ Scribed by Elizabeth D. MacGillivray; H. Juanita M. Beecher; Deirdre Golden

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 216 KB
• Volume: 26
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1932-2054
• DOI: 10.1002/joe.20175

✦ Synopsis

Wal-Mart Not Required To Provide Interpreter When Firing Deaf Employee

Wal-Mart's failure to provide an interpreter for a deaf employee during his termination meeting was not a violation of the ADA, according to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that the employee's ability to communicate effectively at the meeting was neither an "essential function" of his job nor one of the "privileges and benefits" of employment requiring a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. Donald Novella, who is deaf, worked for the company as an unloader of merchandise from October 2002 until November 2003. Novella told management that he saw vulgar and offensive messages on the men's room walls about his fiancée, another Wal-Mart employee. When Novella repeatedly complained, store managers said they had a videotape of him writing on the bathroom walls but allegedly refused to allow him to see the tape. During his termination meeting, Novella asked for an interpreter so he could understand the reason for his firing. The company refused to supply one and had two local police officers escort him from the store. He has not been allowed to return to the store since, which Novella says has forced him and his fiancée to drive 30 miles to buy food, clothing, and groceries. The appellate court in upholding summary judgment for the company said that it was based on EEOC regulations that say an "accommodation" is reasonable only if it enables the employee to perform the essential functions of the job. Communications at a termination meeting is not an "essential function" of an employee's job, according to court. The court avoided determining whether the ability to understand charges and defend oneself at a termination meeting qualifies as one of the "benefits and privileges" of employment.