Board clears health-department employee to return to work with vocational support and interactive process

The Metropolitan Employee Benefit Board voted unanimously to return a health-department employee to work and directed staff to pursue the ADA interactive process and optional vocational case management to help identify reasonable accommodations.

Abigail Holloway, the health department's interim manager, said the department had not been provided with clear restrictions and would need time to evaluate accommodations. "We've not been made aware of any restrictions," Holloway said, asking for time to learn what accommodations might be needed and whether positions that require driving or fieldwork would be feasible.

Dr. Dodd had reported that the employee's medical records show functional limitations even though he did not place formal medical work restrictions on the employee's pension paperwork. "There are limits in her functional abilities which are as documented," Dodd said. Board members emphasized the difference between a treating physician's statements and the employer's interactive process under Title I of the ADA.

Board member Shannon Hall moved to return the employee to work and to authorize optional vocational case management at the discretion of the department and employee; the motion specified that the interactive process should occur and that any documented limitations be communicated through that process rather than on the pension form alone. The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Board members and staff noted the protections available during a 60-day trial return-to-work period and asked that medical limitations be documented so departments are not walking into unclear expectations. The board also asked staff to consider whether the form used for pension requests could better indicate the potential for accommodations without violating privacy rules.