Huber V. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc

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Week 3 Case Study: Huber v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. HRMG 5700 – Employment Law Week 3 Case Study: Huber v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Pam Huber, while working for Wal-Mart as dry grocery order filler, sustained a permanent injury to her right arm and hand and could no longer perform the essential job functions. When she asked to be reassigned to a router position as a reasonable accommodation, she was required to compete with other applicants for this position, and after not being hired for this position and being placed in a maintenance position she filed suit under the ADA. Wal-Mart filed a motion for summary judgment, contending that it had a legitimate nondiscriminatory policy of hiring the most qualified applicant for all job vacancies and therefore was not required to reassign Huber to the router position. Huber filed a cross-motion for summary judgment, which the district court granted Huber’s motion and Wal-Mart appealed. The issue before the court was whether “an employer has an obligation to reassign a qualified disabled employee to a vacant equivalent position when the employer has an already established policy to hire or promote the most qualified to the position” (Twomey, 2013, p. 566). The appeals court reversed and ruled in favor of Wal-Mart. The appeals court reasoned that automatic reassignment is not required and that the ADA is not an affirmative action statute. The employer had an established nondiscriminatory hiring policy that required everyone to compete so Huber was required to compete. The appeals court held that an employer is not obligated to reassign a qualified disabled employee over a more highly qualified applicant for the position. Answer 1: I do not believe the reassignment language within the ADA means anything more than allowing Huber to compete equally with all other candidates for this vacant position. If the employer has an

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