In a case arising under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled that an employee who was chronically absent from work due to a disability was not protected from termination because her employer showed that regular and predictable attendance was an essential function of her job. Although the case involved the Rehabilitation Act, the D.C. Circuit relied on well-established legal principles under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The ruling in Doak v. Johnson, No. 14-5053 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 18, 2015), found that the U.S. Coast Guard did not discriminatorily fail to reasonably accommodate the plaintiff by denying her requests to telecommute and/or work her preferred alternative schedule because, even with such accommodations, she could not perform the essential functions of her job. The Doak decision is consistent with rulings by many other federal appellate courts, which have held expressly that regular, predictable attendance at work can be an essential function of a job.
A copy of the Doak decision is available online at online.