Reference no: EM131228993

Sidney worked for the post office as a letter carrier, but after Sidney had hip surgery, he was no longer able to do the work of a letter carrier that required extended periods of walking and lifting of moderately heavy loads. After Sidney had exhausted the sick leave that he was entitled to take, he asked to be reassigned from letter carrier duty to light duty work in the post office where he worked. The post office did assign Sidney to a temporary light duty position, but after several weeks, the post office notified Sidney that there was no permanent light duty position for him. Sidney then requested that the post office create a permanent light duty position for him, but the post office refused that request, and Sidney accepted disability retirement. Sidney then sued the post office for failing to reasonably accommodate his disability. Is Sidney correct? What does an employer have to do to provide reasonable accommodation for an employee’s disability?