Widening a split among the federal appeals courts, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that an employer did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by declining to give preference in reassignment to an individual with a disability over more qualified candidates.
In so ruling in Elledge v. Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC, No. 19-01069 (4th Cir. November 18, 2020), the court rejected arguments made by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) through a friend of the court brief that the ADA requires an employer to reassign a qualified individual with a disability if there is a vacant position and no other accommodations are available, even if there are other more qualified candidates vying for the same job.
According to the Fourth Circuit, Lowe’s best-qualified hiring system was a “reasonable, orderly, and fundamentally fair way of directing employee advancement within the company.” Thus, reassignment in contravention of that policy was not “reasonable.”
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.