Employment Law – Case Analysis

provide a written assessment of the situation, including an analysis of the obligations Reynolds Aviation may or may not have to accommodate Wells’ request. In preparing your assessment, you may wish to research other cases that address the issue of whether the requested accommodation is this case is “reasonable”, and use those cases to support your assessment. Case Study Below Required Disability Accommodation? Bruce Reynolds is the owner of Reynolds Aviation, a California based manufacturing company that employs 75 full-time machine operators, and 12 full-time office staff. A member of his office staff, Sharon Wells, had recently informed Reynolds that she had been diagnosed with a gastrointestinal disorder which necessitates her taking frequent bathroom breaks. For the last month or so, the bathroom breaks that Wells has been taking were lasting anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes, and she was taking two or three bathroom breaks per day on average. Occasionally, the bathroom breaks would last longer than 45 minutes, but there were days in which Wells’ bathroom breaks lasted only 10-15 minutes. Wells has been employed by Reynolds Aviation for 8½ years, and performs a critical job in the company. Wells is the sole Quality Assurance Specialist, a position that requires her to calibrate and certify a sampling of all parts manufactured by the company before they are shipped out. This position is required by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and in order to hold this position, an employee must have specialized training and certification from the FAA in aircraft parts manufacturing, which Wells has. In order to obtain the FAA certification, a person must have a minimum of two year’s work experience in the aircraft parts manufacturing industry, a bachelor’s degree in mecha​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​nical engineering (or a related field), and complete an 8-week certification course put on by the FAA. Because she is the only person in the company with this certification, her extended bathroom breaks have started to cause a delay in getting parts calibrated and certified, resulting in significant shipping delays. Reynolds Aviation provides all employees two 10-minute paid rest breaks – one in each 4-hour period of work, as required by state law. Additionally, all employees are required to take a one-hour unpaid meal break, during which time they are not allowed to perform any company work. Employees are free to leave the work premises during their meal breaks, but must remain on the company premises during their rest breaks. Reynolds has become increasingly concerned about the shipping delays his company is experiencing, and decided to meet with Wells to discuss the situation. Almost immediately, Wells became agitated and told Reynolds that she expected the company to accommodate her bathroom needs, and that she was a “protected” employee under the Americans With Disability Act. When Reynolds asked if there was any way to reduce the time needed for these breaks, Wells refused to discuss the matter any further stating that she had no control over when the need to use the bathroom would arise. She further stated that she expected the company to allow her to take bathroom breaks on company-paid time, as that was a “reasonable accommodation.” Reynolds has reached out to you as a trusted Human Resources consultant to provide Reynolds Aviation with guidance on how to handle the situation with Wells. Reynolds is particularly interested in knowing his company’s legal obligations, if any, to accommodate Wells’ request for additional paid bathroom breaks beyond what the company alr​‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‌‌‍​eady provides its employees.