Excellent Lumber Milling Corporation has created light-duty assignments for three disabled workers seriously injured on the job when they could no longer perform their regular duties as a result of their job-related injuries.
A fourth employee, Clare Patrick, can no longer perform the heavy labor duties of a lumber stacker at the mill because of a disability caused by a serious off-the-job auto accident.
As a disabled individual, she requests the employer to create a light-duty position for her as a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. The company president denied Patrick's request, pointing out that she had not been injured on the job.
Did the company violate the ADA by treating individuals with job-related disabilities differently from an individual with a disability caused by an off-the-job accident? Decide.