Telling an employee to “focus on her health” is not disability discrimination

 

Rather, it’s just being — oh what’s that word — ‘human.’

Like in this case, in which a supervisor with breast cancer was disciplined — yes, folks, you can reprimand an employee with an ADA “disability” or FMLA “serious health condition” — for allegedly calling other employees names such as “idiot,” “moron,” and “dumbass;” and also striking a few of them on the head for good measure. The supervisor-plaintiff was then demoted and given a pay cut commensurate with the other deputy clerks at her position. When told of the demotion and pay cut, her boss also mentioned that “she should probably focus on her health rather than worry about the stress of supervising people.”

My heavens! I’ve caught the vapors. A boss who expresses concern for the welfare of his employees. Sounds like a terrible place to work!

Without the sarcasm, the court determined that suggesting to the supervisor-plaintiff that “she should probably focus on her health” is not disability discrimination:

The fact that Defendant Brown mentioned Plaintiff’s ability to focus on her health as a potential positive side effect of no longer having a supervisory role does not require the conclusion that Plaintiff’s FMLA leave or her disability were reasons for her demotion. “[G]eneral, vague, or ambiguous comments do not constitute direct evidence of discrimination because such remarks require a factfinder to draw further inferences to support a finding of discriminatory animus.” As pointed out by Defendants, this general statement is just as likely to be construed as conciliatory as discriminatory.

We don’t have to walk around the office on eggshells, worried that if we ask a co-worker with a sniffly nose how she’s feeling, that she’s going to document the comment and later use it against us in a subsequent discrimination action. Although, I’ve been known to give the stink-eye to co-workers who read my blog posts and ask me how much I has to drink the night before.

Look guys, who among us, doesn’t enjoy two Baybreeze boilermakers while blogging in bed after a long day? Pardon me for being civilized.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some Keeping Up With The Kardashians to watch.