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Hutchinson Technology, Inc. v. Labor & Industry Review Commission

WISJune 30, 2004No. 02-3328Cited 16 times
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Case Details

Judge(s)
Crooks, Sykes, Wilcox, Roggensack, Prosser
Status — whether other courts must follow this ruling
Published
Procedural Posture — the stage the case had reached
appeal

Related Laws

No specific laws identified for this ruling.

Claim Types

DiscriminationFailure to Accommodate

Outcome

The Wisconsin Supreme Court affirmed that Susan Roytek had a disability under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act and that Hutchinson Technology failed to provide reasonable accommodation by refusing to allow her to work eight-hour shifts instead of twelve-hour shifts, ordering reinstatement and back pay.

What This Ruling Means

**What Happened:** Susan Roytek worked at Hutchinson Technology and had a medical condition that made it difficult for her to work the company's standard 12-hour shifts. She asked her employer to accommodate her disability by allowing her to work 8-hour shifts instead. The company refused her request and she lost her job. Roytek filed a complaint claiming disability discrimination and failure to accommodate under Wisconsin's Fair Employment Act. **What the Court Decided:** The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in favor of Roytek. The court determined that she did have a legal disability under state law and that Hutchinson Technology failed to provide reasonable accommodation when they refused to let her work shorter shifts. The court ordered the company to reinstate Roytek to her job and pay her back wages for the time she was out of work. **Why This Matters for Workers:** This case shows that employers must seriously consider requests for schedule changes when they're needed to accommodate a worker's disability. Companies can't simply refuse accommodation requests without showing that the changes would cause significant hardship to their business operations. Workers with disabilities have the right to ask for reasonable modifications to their work schedules.

This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.

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