Castelino v. Whitman, Breed, Abbott & Morgan, LLC

**Castelino v. Whitman, Breed, Abbott & Morgan, LLC** **What Happened:** An employee with a disability sued her law firm employer, claiming discrimination. She had requested to work from home full-time as an accommodation for her disability, but the employer denied this request. When the employment relationship ended badly, she filed a lawsuit alleging the company discriminated against her because of her disability. **What the Court Decided:** The court ruled in favor of the law firm. Both the trial court and appeals court found there wasn't enough evidence to prove discrimination occurred. The courts determined that working in the office was an essential part of the job, making the employee's request for full remote work unreasonable. The employer won the case completely. **Why This Matters for Workers:** This ruling shows that not all accommodation requests will be granted, even for workers with disabilities. Employers can refuse accommodations that would eliminate what they can prove are essential job functions. However, workers still have the right to request reasonable accommodations. The key lesson is that remote work may not always be considered "reasonable" if in-person presence is truly required for the role.