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Leave to Accommodate a Disability May Stretch Endlessly

November 2014
Employment Law Notes
The Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) may require employers to allow disabled employees well more than six months of unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation, according to a federal district court in western Washington. There is no doubt that unpaid leave beyond the three months guaranteed by the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) can be a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. But the district court’s October 23 decision in Casteel v. Charter Commc’ns. Inc. suggests that such a reasonable accommodation might include unpaid leave of surprising length.