Rod Satterwhite at Suits in the Workplace blog examines a strange case from Oregon on sleeping in the workplace:
Jon Brown worked as an emergency dispatcher for the City of Salem for almost 25 years. Brown was diagnosed with sleep apnea more than 10 years before he was terminated in 2003. As a result of the sleep apnea, Brown suffered from “micro-sleeps” – involuntarily falling asleep for brief periods of time. (I always thought they were called naps.) Brown acknowledged that the City was initially cooperative in attempting to reasonably accommodate his condition. He was excused from night duty and was provided with a fan after his physician indicated that high temperatures in the workplace might trigger the micro-sleeps. These accommodations failed to completely alleviate Brown’s symptoms, however, and he was ultimately terminated in 2003, at least in part because he fell asleep while on duty.
Jon Brown worked as an emergency dispatcher for the City of Salem for almost 25 years. Brown was diagnosed with sleep apnea more than 10 years before he was terminated in 2003. As a result of the sleep apnea, Brown suffered from “micro-sleeps” – involuntarily falling asleep for brief periods of time. (I always thought they were called naps.) Brown acknowledged that the City was initially cooperative in attempting to reasonably accommodate his condition. He was excused from night duty and was provided with a fan after his physician indicated that high temperatures in the workplace might trigger the micro-sleeps. These accommodations failed to completely alleviate Brown’s symptoms, however, and he was ultimately terminated in 2003, at least in part because he fell asleep while on duty.
Concluding that Brown had presented a prima facie case of disability discrimination under the ADA, the court rejected the City’s motion for summary judgment and ruled that Brown’s claim could proceed to trial. At issue was whether a causal connection existed between the termination and the disability. Brown’s managers knew he suffered from sleep apnea when they terminated him, and they recognized that his sleeping on the job might have been related to that disability. Nevertheless, there were obvious safety concerns relating to a "micro-sleep" happening in the middle of an emergency call. Noting that “conduct resulting from the disability is considered to be part of the disability and that termination based on that conduct is unlawful,” the court denied the City’s motion for summary judgment.
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