u/ChemicalSuspicious19

Location: Kansas

Status: Salaried/exempt

Question: Based on the below facts, would an employment attorney likely view this as an ADA accommodation/reassignment issue worth pursuing, particularly where an accommodation was initially approved, but the accommodated duty was later deemed essential and reassignment became the outcome? 

Facts:

• I work as a QA Manager with consistent exceeds performance reviews.
• I was given a temporary training-lead assignment that evolved to include live facilitation.
• I have a documented anxiety-related disability.
• For months, I requested alternatives to live facilitation (co-facilitation, shared facilitation, prerecorded content, etc.) through leadership with no luck. 
• I formally requested an ADA accommodation to remove live facilitation while continuing my QA responsibilities and non-facilitation training duties.
• HR approved the accommodation and issued a memo stating facilitation would be transitioned away from me over 60–90 days.
• Several weeks later, I was informed by HR that department leadership said that facilitation was considered part of the role now and that I am responsible for finding another internal position in 60 days or my employment would end (no position for me anymore in QA).
• Leadership later stated they could not justify maintaining my role without the facilitation component. I asked for alternative accommodations that were considered but none have been provided.
• The essential functions listed in my Manager position description do not include any aspect of training. Note, historically training was not a part of the QA Mgr role either. 
• At the same time, training has historically been performed through multiple models and by different groups within the organization, including an enterprise-wide training department.