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Benefit board defers MNPS disability pension appeal to allow ADA interactive process
Summary
The Metropolitan Employee Benefit Board voted unanimously to defer for one meeting a disability pension appeal involving an MNPS employee to allow the employer and employee to complete the ADA interactive process.
The Metropolitan Employee Benefit Board voted unanimously to defer for one meeting a disability pension appeal involving an employee from MNPS to allow the employer and employee to complete the interactive process under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Dr. Dodd, the civil service medical examiner, recommended denial based on available documentation, saying he could not conclude the employee was medically ineligible to perform job duties. "Legal blindness is not the same as blindness," Dodd told the board, explaining that the employee has a constricted visual field but retains central 20/40 vision in one eye and some light perception in the other.
Board members pressed for clarity about safety and accommodations. "If she's legally blind ... it would be very hard for her to perform some of those functions," Board member Shannon Hall said, citing supervising employees and stepping in for cafeteria workers as examples where peripheral vision is important. David Hines, identified himself as the agency executive director, told the board the department would need to complete its due diligence in the interactive process and address safety concerns before offering work without restrictions.
After discussion about whether vocational evaluation or additional department-led accommodations were appropriate, Hall moved to defer the case for one meeting to allow the department to pursue the interactive process; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
The board did not adopt a final pension decision at the meeting; staff were directed to report back with results of the interactive process. The board stressed the difference between a treating physician's opinion and the employer-led interactive process, and that further documentation of specific accommodations should be collected before any final pension determination.
The deferral preserves the employee's procedural rights and gives the department the chance to evaluate reasonable accommodations and safety considerations before the board takes final action.
