Question:
A call center representative suffered from a rare condition known as “brittle bone disease” that permanently confined him to a wheelchair. The call center has a strict policy on tardiness. Employees are penalized for reporting to work or returning from lunch more than three minutes late. The representative was frequently late, especially returning from lunch. His tardiness was caused by a variety of factors including an insufficient number of disabled accessible parking spots in the company lot, a policy of not assigning specific cubicles to representatives, cluttered aisles that made it difficult to maneuver between cubicles, and lack of equipment in some cubicles. The representative requested that he be given a grace period of an additional fifteen minutes when returning from lunch. He would be responsible for working the same total amount of time, but he would be allowed to start a few minutes later if needed. Adjusting his work schedule in this manner would have eliminated almost all of the incidents of tardiness. His supervisors refused the grace period request and terminated the representative. Did this employer fail to reasonably accommodate this employee?