Milligan\'s Offer to Keltner Is a Reasonable

Milligan's offer to Keltner is a reasonable one because it is obvious that Keltner is not capable of performing at his peak and dealing with the patrons professionally during his depression episodes. Millgan wants to work with Keltner and doesn't believe in firing an employee if something else can be done to improve the situation. For this reason Millgan is offering reassignment to cataloguing for some time till Keltner finds a better drug that would more effective for his illness. This is the correct decision because it doesn't involve much interaction with patrons and hence there would be fewer complaints from those who need assistance in referencing section. Secondly it is also fair to Keltner because as a librarian, it goes in his favor if he has additional skills as well. It doesn't need to restrict his knowledge to referencing alone but use this opportunity to learn about cataloguing and this would give him deeper understanding of library sciences and he can become a greater asset to the library once he can overcome his illness. This would have a positive effect on his career because it would give him an additional skill, improve his knowledge of the library sciences and make him a multi-talented and multi-dimensional worker.

Answer 2:

Ethically and professionally speaking, Keltner does have an obligation to accept reassignment because he is well aware of his condition and its impact on his performance. In order to serve the University better, he should be more flexible and work around his condition by accepting reassignment so that he can keep serving in a capacity that requires minimum interaction with the patrons in order to minimize complaints. But legally speaking, he has no such obligation. He can choose to decline reassignment offer and keep working in the reference section but then he must understand that if he continues working the way he does, it is very much possible that he would be dismissed from his services because his condition is affecting his performance, employees' morale and also increasing the number of complaints patrons have against the library.

Keltner needs to see the situation from both perspectives, moral as well as legal because while morally he has an obligation to go along with University's plan as they are trying to be considerate but legally he can reject the offer. However if he accepts this offer, it can only benefit him in the long run even if it doesn't appeal to him right now. Secondly his persistent mood swings and unprofessional attitude is not making it any easier for the University to run its library efficiently and hence he needs to take the responsibility for that and accept the reassignment offer.

ANSWER 3:

It must be understood that ADA safeguards the rights of disabled workers but at the same time it does understand the challenges that employers can face while working with disabled people. For this reason, reassignment is protected under ADA as a form of "reasonable accommodation." The law sees reassignment as a possible option when:

"1. There are no effective reasonable accommodations that will enable the employee to perform the essential functions of his/her current position, or

2. All other reasonable accommodations would impose undue hardships or would pose a direct threat to the employee or other employees." ("Reassignment of a Qualified Employee")

While the law doesn't offer recourse but it doesn't explicitly disallow the disable employee from declining an offer. The employee is free to decline but in that case, the University can take any action it seems fit and it can be as drastic as letting Keltner go. The reasonable accommodation clause fits the case of Keltner because there is no other position where he could be moved, and the current job is clearly not being done professionally enough.

We must understand that had there been no protection for reassignment under ADA, most disabled workers would lose their jobs especially those workers whose condition is not permanent but can significantly affect their job. Depression is such a condition which is not permanent as it doesn't always affect a person but when it does, it can seriously affect work performance, mood, attitude, relationships etc. Keltner is thus being offered reasonable accommodation to keep him employed while his interaction with others can be minimized to protect the rights of others in the workplace.

ANSWER 4

A disability in this case can be defined as any condition that interferes with proper execution of work without additional aid. In the case of Keltner we can see that without an effective drug, Keltner is unable to do his job as professional as he is required to do. Secondly he is also not behaving well with other workers and patrons. This is having a bad impact on employees' morale when Keltner refuses to do his job and just sits in the office all day long.