Kelli Jones worked as a design expert for the Federal Department of the Interior. Kelli was a highly regarded employee, until her supervisor left. Under the old supervisor, Kelli had flexibility regarding her reporting time. The later she came to work, the later she stayed on the back end to make up the time. This was important, because Kelli suffered from insomnia, which made her drowsy in the mornings and sometimes suffered from severe headaches. When the new boss showed up, she read Kelli the riot act about punctuality and scheduling.

When Kelli told the new boss her reason for needing flexibility regarding arrival and departure times, her boss became inflexible and insensitive, telling a subordinate employee — Kelli’s co-worker — “Kelli is nuts.” This office got in touch with legal counsel for the Federal Agency and alerted her to the problem. We said unless the Federal Agency granted a reasonable accommodation to our client, consistent with her treating physician’s written report and the Americans with Disabilities Act, we would sue them for violating the law – and for damages.

Agency counsel was very receptive to a negotiated approach. With Agency counsel’s cooperation, Kelli was granted a transfer to a different section of her department, reporting to a different boss, and given a flex- time schedule, to use when her insomnia flared up. This was a 100% favorable outcome for our client, without having to go through a Federal EEOC proceeding or a federal lawsuit.