Employee Experiencing Seizures at Work Loses ADA Claim

Takeaway: The appeals court found that the challenging nature of the plaintiff’s work, his work conditions, and his work hours made his condition a direct threat to the safety of others and himself.

A utility employee with more than 30 years of service began suffering from seizures after years of difficult physical duties that required significant overtime. As a result, his employer forced him to resign. The court sympathized with the employee, but it found that he could not prove disability discrimination when he posed a direct threat to the safety of others and himself.

Newport Utilities provides electrical, wastewater, water, and broadband services to residents in and around Newport, Tenn. The plaintiff was hired in 1988, originally serving in the electrical division stockroom and gradually working his way up the ranks due to excellent performance. In 2014, he was promoted to one of the division’s three bucket foreman positions, a position which he held until he retired.

Newport Utilities relies on teams consisting of a bucket foreman and a lineman to maintain and fix electrical facilities in the field. These dangerous jobs require the teams to climb up poles and work with live, and potentially deadly, power lines — often in extreme weather conditions. The bucket foreman supervises the other lineman and has to stay alert at all times. The teams use a bucket truck to travel to power lines in need of repair and reach elevated lines. Although the truck is operated by a single driver, Newport Utilities requires both team members to have commercial driver's licenses. If one employee gets injured in a remote area, the other might have to drive the truck to civilization to seek medical aid.

The teams also regularly work unusual hours. The bucket foremen’s standard two-week schedule consists of 36 hours over four days one week and 44 hours over five days the next week. Linemen have to serve one week of standby every seven weeks for after-hours emergencies. And the teams might have to report for overtime with 30 minutes’ notice whenever bad weather or other events lead to power outages. These unexpected outages routinely require long hours. The plaintiff estimated that he worked for more than 24 hours straight between 400 and 500 times during his career.

This exhausting work may have taken its toll on the plaintiff, combined with the stress of his parents’ deaths. He began to suffer from seizures in 2009 or 2010. He would become mentally altered and not know what was happening around him for up to 90 seconds at a time. The seizures happened at unpredictable times without warning. Newport Utilities became aware of the situation in March 2020. The plaintiff suffered a seizure while driving after working all night repairing electrical lines. The other employee in the truck noticed the seizure and reported it to their supervisor, who told the plaintiff to see a doctor. The doctor cleared him to return to work.

That August, the plaintiff had another medical episode after working dozens of overtime hours. While the plaintiff’s team was working to repair an elevated powerline on a 95-degree day, a co-worker saw the plaintiff lying face down on the ground. He asked for a mayday call to be placed, and the plaintiff was rushed to the emergency room. He was diagnosed with heat exhaustion.

Newport Utilities’ vice president of human resources worried that the plaintiff’s seizures could cause a catastrophic event and get someone killed. She placed the plaintiff on temporary Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave and had the company’s medical review officer evaluate him.

The plaintiff’s doctor diagnosed him with “absence seizures” and stated that he could return to work if he worked no more than 12 hours a day or 55 hours in a one-week period. The company’s doctor agreed with these hours restrictions and also stated that the plaintiff should not operate any company vehicles or powered equipment for at least five months. After the five-month period expired, the company’s doctor added the restriction that he could only work a 40-hour week.

Newport Utilities sought to transfer the plaintiff to a different role but had no alternate positions available. As a result, it sent him a letter stating that he could retire or he would be fired. The plaintiff chose to retire, then sued Newport Utilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The district court granted summary judgment to Newport Utilities, and the plaintiff appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On appeal, the 6th Circuit considered whether the plaintiff’s condition created a direct threat to the health and safety of others. The court said the evidence showed that the plaintiff’s condition rendered him unable to safely perform his duties and that the long and difficult hours were an essential job function. 

The court thus upheld the dismissal of the plaintiff’s claims at summary judgment.

Smith v. Newport Utilities, 6th Cir., No. 24-5502 (Feb. 27, 2025).

Jeffrey Rhodes is an attorney with McInroy, Rigby & Rhodes LLP in Arlington, Va.