Wayne Henschel v. Clare County Road Commission

Wayne Henschel v. Clare County Road Commission: What Workers Need to Know

Wayne Henschel worked as an excavator operator for the Clare County Road Commission but had a medical condition that prevented him from driving commercial vehicles to transport equipment between job sites. When his employer wouldn't accommodate this limitation, Henschel sued for disability discrimination and failure to provide reasonable accommodations.

The lower court initially ruled entirely in favor of the Road Commission, dismissing Henschel's case. However, the federal appeals court partially reversed this decision. The appeals court found there were genuine questions about whether transporting the excavator was truly an essential part of the job that required a trial to resolve. The court noted that if transporting equipment wasn't essential to the position, the employer might have been required to accommodate Henschel's driving restriction.

This ruling matters for workers because it reinforces that employers can't automatically claim every job duty is "essential" to avoid providing accommodations. When workers have disabilities that limit certain functions, courts will examine whether those functions are truly necessary for the job. Workers facing similar situations should document which job duties they can and cannot perform, as this distinction can be crucial in disability accommodation cases.