Questions on job application lead to suit against Florida employer.

A December 8, 2021, decision in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida means a lawsuit against a Lee County library will continue. The plaintiff alleges he was rejected from job openings at the local library due to his responses to two application questions. The questions in dispute related to whether the applicant had a valid driver’s license and whether the applicant was “disabled.” The plaintiff’s suit asserts he was thus denied a job for which he was otherwise qualified and could have performed with reasonable accommodation. 

The suit will move forward as the district court judge denied the library’s motion to dismiss, stating the plaintiff alleged enough facts to state a claim to relief plausible on its face. 

This case should remind employers not to ask whether an applicant is disabled on an application or in a interview but to leave those questions for a post-offer, pre-employment questionnaire, when such questions are permissible to determine what essential job duty does the disability impair and what reasonable accommodation could be implemented to allow the applicant to perform the essential functions of the position. 
 

^{Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2022 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2022 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}