Stating the Obvious

An employee who is legally restricted from driving because of seizures is not “qualified” for a job that requires the employee to spend fifty percent of working hours on the road. In Minnihan v. Mediacom Communications Corp., No. 14-1109 (8th Cir. March 9, 2015), the employee wanted his employer to reallocate his driving responsibilities to other employees. Instead, the employer offered to reassign the employee to a non-driving position with comparable pay and benefits. The employee declined the offer and sued the employer. Common sense prevailed. The ADA does not require employers to reallocate the essential functions of a job. Where an employee spends half of his day visiting job sites, as in Minnihan, driving is an essential function of the job. To state the obvious, the employee’s claim failed.