'Scents'itivity Covered under ADA
December 1, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has
determined an employee who claimed a coworker's perfume
aggravated a lifelong medical condition can proceed with her
suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA).
U.S. District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff ruled that
Susan McBride's condition was a disability that
limited a major life activity because it caused her
trouble breathing. McBride also argued that her condition
caused her to have to avoid certain situations where she
could be exposed to perfumes, air fresheners, or other
irritants, and that the medications she took to control
her symptoms interfered with fertility treatments,
limiting her ability to reproduce. The court denied those
arguments.
McBride suffers from a life-long sensitivity to
perfumes, chemicals, and other scented objects. When she
is exposed to such scents, she experiences migraine
headaches, nausea, chest tightness, coughing, loss of
voice, a scratchy throat, and rhinitis.
According to the opinion, McBride's coworker
was wearing perfumes/oils, using a plug-in air freshener
in the reception area, and using air fresheners and
potpourri in the restroom. After McBride complained to
her immediate supervisor about the difficulties she was
experiencing, the coworker ceased using the plug-in air
fresheners but did not stop wearing perfumes/oils.
McBride filed a charge with the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which dismissed the charge
in April 2007, and she sought the help of her union
representative to institute a policy change regarding the
use of scents in the workplace, the opinion said. The HR
Department rejected a department wide scent policy and
did little else to formulate any other type of
policy.
There were discussions about relocating either
McBride's workstation or her coworker's workstation, but
neither was relocated.
McBride, an employee for the city of Detroit, then
filed suit alleging that she suffers from a disability
and the city failed to provide her with a reasonable
accommodation, as required by the ADA.
The case is McBride v. The City of Detroit. The
original lawsuit is available
here
. The court ruling is available
here
.
Rebecca Moore
editors@plansponsor.com