Plaintiff failed to demonstrate that her migraine headaches, caused by her attempts to comply with her employer's hair grooming policy, precluded her from performing a broad class of jobs to support a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The plaintiff alleged that her former employer discriminated against her and forced her to resign her position as a correctional officer, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, by refusing to accommodate her inability to comply with the employer's hair grooming policy. Specifically, the plaintiff alleged that the policy, which required employees with long hair to tie their hair back, caused her to suffer debilitating migraine headaches when she attempted to work with her hair tied tightly. The court, however, rejected the plaintiff's disability discrimination claim, holding that she failed to provide evidence as to how she was precluded from a class of jobs or a broad range of jobs in various classes. In so holding, the court noted that she failed to provide evidence that she would be foreclosed from other jobs with the employer that did not require her to have contact with prisoners and failed to provide evidence that there were no law enforcement positions which have a more relaxed hair policy.

Case Law Alert - 1st Qtr 2011