At a minimum, employees today are anxious about losing their jobs. On the extreme, they may be experiencing full-blown clinical depressions. If you know an employee is suffering from depression, don’t be so quick to accept his or her hasty resignation, a new court ruling shows. Instead, you may need to identify this person as “disabled” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and, therefore, engage in an “interactive process” to find a work accommodation … 

CASE IN POINT: Marcy Ann Smith, an Iowa state employee, went out on FMLA leave after being diagnosed with depression. A month before she planned to return to work, she experienced a setback due to a family crisis.

Soon after, Smith showed up at work and resigned. But a few days later, she asked to withdraw her resignation. Her employer refused. It said she could apply for other state jobs. All of her other applications were denied.

Smith sued under two federal laws—the ADA and the FMLA. She contended that (after her resignation) she was an “applicant” within the scope of the ADA and was being discriminated against because the employer knew she suffered from depression. She also claimed that the company’s refusal to accept her resignation reversal was retaliation for her taking FMLA leave. 

Note: The ADA says that when employers are “on notice” that an employee has a disability, they must engage in an interactive process with the worker to determine possible reasonable job accommodations to the disability. (New ADA rules take effect on Jan. 1 that define “disability” more broadly than ever and bring more employees under the “disabled” tent.)

The employer argued that Smith never officially said her quick resignation was related to her disability. But Smith’s lawyers argued that it was the employer’s job to make that connection. Who was right? (Smith v. Iowa, Iowa Ct. App., No. 8-460/07-1689, 10/29/08

What happened next and what lessons can be learned?

The court sided with Smith and sent both the ADA and FMLA claims to a jury trial. It said that even if Smith did not make an explicit request for an accommodation, “Employers must meet employees halfway. And if it appears that (employees) do not know how to ask for an accommodation, employers should do what they can to help.”

The court said the “failure of an employer to engage in the interactive process of determining reasonable accommodations can be viewed as prima facie evidence of acting in bad faith.” 

It also said that Smith’s claim of retaliation under the FMLA was valid because there was no reasonable explanation for not reinstating her upon her request. Smith noted that the department knew of her clinical depression. As such, the judge admonished that “the department had a duty to determine if her resignation was attributable to her depression, or if she had other valid reasons for leaving.”

3 Lessons Learned …Without Going to Court

1. Don’t take every action at face value. Remember, when employees have mental disorders they are “not in their right minds,” and therefore, not necessarily able to make right decisions. Hence, they may resign and retract. Don’t take such actions at face value when the face behind it is depressed. Consider that these may be ADA triggers, which obligate employers to engage in the interactive process to determine reasonable accommodations.

2. Get ready for an ADA explosion. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 will require employers to construe disabilities more broadly than in the past.  Employers should be proactive by updating their ADA policies and procedures and training managers and supervisors on how to properly respond and who to contact for centralized compliance.

3. Establish an interactive processes work script. Employers need to establish an interactive process. Consider an effective work script like, “Thank you for letting me know. Let’s work together to understand the options.” Then make sure you get back in touch with the employee with a solution. And never, ever, blow off and employee with ADA rights by ignoring their requests or failing to identify ADA triggers.