By Jim Cline and Sam Hagshenas
In Nawara v. Cook County Municipality, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that requiring an officer to undergo an unjustified mental health examination in order to return to work violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), warranting a restoration of the officer’s seniority and potentially an award for back pay.
John Nawara was an employee of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois since 1998. In 2016, Nawara got into several heated altercations with supervisors and co-workers. As a result, the Sheriff’s Office placed Nawara on paid leave and required him to undergo a fitness-for-duty examination to return to work. Although Nawara eventually complied, he filed a lawsuit, alleging that his employer violated the ADA’s prohibition on inquiring if an employee has a disability unless the inquiry is job related and a business necessity.
Nawara succeeded in this lawsuit, but the jury awarded no damages. The district court noted that the relevant statute barred an award for back pay when an employee suffers an adverse employment action for any reason other than discrimination based on a disability. Because Nawara did not assert a disability or perceived disability, the district court reasoned that the unlawful conduct was not discrimination based on a disability. The district court thus considered the fitness for duty examination as a means of discriminating, not discrimination in and of itself. Nawara appealed, arguing that the district court misconstrued the statute in a way that made him ineligible for back pay.
On appeal, the Seventh Circuit disagreed with the district court, rejecting their definition of discrimination. They reasoned that Congress could define discrimination however it likes and reasoned that a more expansive definition of discrimination that included medical examinations is more consistent with the language and intent of the ADA.
The Seventh Circuit thus ruled that Nawara’s seniority be restored, and determined that even despite his non-disabled status, Nawara was eligible to request back pay for the unlawful investigation into his disability status. This ruling is now binding in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana, but it remains to be seen if other jurisdictions will adopt this interpretation.
The Americans with Disability Act prohibits compelled medical exams that are not supported by “business necessity.” In reality, this standard provides employers fairly broad authority to compel exams where bona fide fitness issues exist but in this case the courts determined that the exam had not been properly required. The question then arose as to damages. Here the 7th Circuit overturned the limited damage award issued by the trial court, finding that Congressional intent in adopting the ADA permitted robust back wage damages for an unlawful compelled examination.
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