Southeast ADA Center
2008
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Ms. Greta D. Kilgo was employed at the Cingular Wireless’ (“Cingular”) Call Center from September 2001 until sometime after July 2005. Her job responsibilities consisted of fielding and handling customer calls quickly and efficiently. Ms. Kilgo had reconstructive surgeries in June 2004 and July 2005 to replace a hip and a knee, respectively. She has severe osteoarthritis in these areas and had difficulty sitting or standing for long periods of time.
Ms. Kilgo made a series of four accommodation requests regarding the location of her desk in relation to the building entrance and restroom, and her need to take more frequent breaks. In November 2001 she made a verbal accommodation request, to which Cingular eventually responded that without medical documentation they would not grant an accommodation. On a second occasion (date unknown) Ms. Kilgo submitted Cingular’s own form, completed by her gynecologist. The form asked if a condition “substantially limits” Ms. Kilgo in a major life activity and provides a list of major life activities with boxes for the physician to check off. Ms. Kilgo’s gynecologist checked the box indicating she was substantially limited in the major life activity of walking, but then circled the word “substantial” in the introductory sentence and wrote “NO” next to it. Because of this discrepancy Cingular denied Ms. Kilgo’s request.
In April 2002 her gynecologist followed up with a letter to Cingular stating that Ms. Kilgo was “significantly limited” in a major life activity, but did not consider the limitation “substantial” because it was unrelated to her job description. The gynecologist further noted that she did not understand what Cingular considered a substantial limitation. On two other occasions between December 2002 and November 2003, Ms. Kilgo’s primary care physician completed Cingular’s form, clearly indicating that Ms. Kilgo had a substantially limiting disability.
After the fourth request, Cingular accommodated Ms. Kilgo by moving her desk closer to an exit and restroom, and by splitting her break time so she was able to take breaks more frequently (every 56 minutes). Ms. Kilgo, however, was not happy with these accommodations. First, the restroom closest to her was a left-handed restroom, and she preferred the right-handed restroom that was now farther away. Second, she preferred to have one break every 90 minutes.
Ms. Kilgo also indicated that sometime after requesting accommodations, her co-workers began to harass her. Examples of the alleged harassment included 1) co-workers rejoicing when her desk was moved, following her to and from lunch and the restroom, and whistling as they walked past her desk; 2) Ms. Kilgo receiving a higher number of calls compared to her co-workers; and 3) IT staff erasing data and changing her computer settings.
https://adasoutheast.org/court-decisions/kilgo-v-cingular-wireless-l-l-c
Keywords: Americans with Disabilities Act, employment, legal concepts, retaliation