Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DISCRIMINATION—DISABILITY—11th Cir.: Former Arhaus employee’s claim revived, firing may have violated ADA, (Jul 30, 2025)

By Cathleen Calhoun, J.D.

A design consultant was “dressed and ready” to go back to work on the day of his scheduled return from medical leave when he learned he was fired.

A former employee who alleged ADA disability discrimination by of national furniture retailer Arhaus should not have had his claim dismissed in summary judgment, the Eleventh Circuit found in an unpublished per curiam opinion. The employee had taken a three-week medical leave for anxiety and depression and was fired on the day he was scheduled to return. In vacating and remanding, the appeals court stated that the district court erred in finding that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to whether the former employee was a qualified individual under the ADA (Bueno v. Arhaus LLC, No. 24-13467 (11th Cir. July 29, 2025, unpublished)).

The former employee had worked as a full-time design consultant for Arhaus. He suffers from anxiety and depression, and on January 30, 2022, he texted his store manager: “Sorry I had to bounce. Having some type of cluster headache with anxiety. I’ll be talking [to] a professional tomorrow. I think it’s just stress.” On January 31, he again texted: “ I’m going to stay back. I didn’t know that the headache thing could be covid stuff.” The next day, on February 1, he did not show up for work, but in the later afternoon submitted a doctor’s note. The note read that he should be excused from work “ from 1/30/22-2/20/22 due to stress and anxiety” and that he can “ return 2/21/22 as long as he is feeling better.” He learned that he was fired on February 21, before he returned to the workplace. Evidence was presented that the firing had been planned before his return based in part on the former employee not showing up on February 1.

ADA. The ADA prohibits covered employers from “discriminat[ing] against a qualified individual on the basis of disability in regard to job application procedures, the hiring, advancement, or discharge of employees, employee compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment” 42 U.S.C. § 12112(a). To establish a prima facie ADA-discrimination claim, the plaintiff must show that he (1) has a disability, (2) is a qualified individual, and (3) was discriminated against because of his disability. A “qualified individual” under the ADA is an individual “who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires” 42 U.S.C. § 12111(8).

Qualified individual. The Eleventh Circuit found that the district court erred in finding that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to whether the former employee was a “qualified individual” under the ADA. The evidence, construed in the light most favorable to the former employee, supported a reasonable inference that at the time of his termination, the former employee could have performed the essential functions of his job after receiving the reasonable accommodation of three weeks of medical leave, according to the court. Unlike in other cases presented by Arhaus as similar, in the present case the former employee requested leave until a definite date. When his medical leave ended, he testified, he intended to go to work that day and was “dressed and ready.” In looking at the evidence in the light most favorable to the former employee, he gave no indication that he would not return to work that day prior to his belief that he was fired.

The Eleventh Circuit thus vacated the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Arhaus and remanded the case to the district court to consider the remaining elements of the former employee’s claim for disability discrimination.

The case is No. 24-13467.

Judge: Per curiam.

Attorneys: Mark Jay Berkowitz (Law Offices of Mark J. Berkowitz) for Spencer Bueno. Lissette Gonzalez (Cole Scott & Kissane) for Arhaus, LLC.

Companies: Arhaus, LLC

Cases: DisabilityDiscrimination Discrimination Discharge AlabamaNews FloridaNews GeorgiaNews