Employees can claim ADA protection for a variety of physical and mental conditions. But is work-related stress one of them?
In one recent case, an employee was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. He had sleeping problems and needed a short stay in the hospital after a panic attack.
The apparent cause: the employee’s boss. He claimed the problems began after receiving two negative performance reviews and being told he needed to increase his sales.
As his performance problems continued, the last straw came after he broke company policy by misusing his corporate credit card. He was fired.
The employee sued, claiming he was terminated because of a disability.
But the court didn’t buy it — his condition wasn’t serious enough to be a legally protected disability. To meet the standard, the judge said, the condition needs to have permanent or long-term effects.
In this case, the problems were situational — therefore, the depression and anxiety would only last as long as he worked for the same supervisor.
Cite: Maslanka v. Johnson & Johnson, Inc.
