ADA question

GLC

We have a African-American employee who has been off on medical leave since 4/02 due to a heart attack. She is not been with the company for at least 1 year so not eligible for FMLA. The doctor will not allow her to come back to work because she continues to have chest pains. She has used up all of her sick time so she is not being paid until she accrues more time. We are a non-profit Counseling agency and losing money because we have clients who cannot be seen due to her absence. This position has been left unfilled. She has been doing a few hours per week over the phone counseling clients but that is not enough for us. We need a FT Therapist in the office to see clients face to face. What obligations do we have under ADA to continue holding her job? I feel we have made a reasonable accomodation for this long by allowing her to stay off work. Her doctor will not allow her to come back to work indefinitely because of the chest pains. We not do have a leave of absence policy in place.
Could we now come up with a date and say if you are not back to work after by that date, we will have to terminate your employment.

Don D

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 08-02-02 AT 12:00PM (CST)[/font][p]Your obligation under the ADA is that you determine whether or not she is "A qualified individual with a disability". To meet that test, you must determine if she is able to perform the job with or without accommodation. If she cannot report to work or perform the job in a manner that will meet the demands of your business and you feel you cannot accommodate her reasonably, then she is not a qualified individual. If her very limited schedule of providing her counseling services to your clients does not meet the demands of your business, you may decide that to continue with that is not reasonable. If there is no reasonable accommodation and you and your attorney are comfortable with that, the ADA does not require that she be retained. "Holding her job" is addressed by FMLA, not ADA. The ADA does not require "holding one's job open". Granting an additional few weeks to recover and then having her return is quite another matter.