Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, DISCRIMINATION—DISABILITY—W.D. Ark.: Packaging employee with hand injury, fired for attendance issues, advances ADA claim, (Sep 5, 2025)

By Jason Albright, J.D.

A nurse retained by the employer, contradicting the advice of the employee’s healthcare provider, determined that she was fine to return to work immediately “with no restrictions.”

A former auxiliary packout department employee of Rockline Industries, Inc., fired for alleged attendance issues after she injured her hand at work and a nurse retained by the company contradicted her healthcare provider’s indication that she could return to work “with no left handed duty until next follow up,” may proceed to trial with her ADA disability discrimination claim, a federal district court found. The record indicated that Rockline's safety manager explicitly acknowledged that she was suffering from a disabling condition, determined she was entitled to an accommodation, identified at least two possible accommodations, and then denied any accommodation. A jury, the court said, should be charged with deciding whether Rockline's failure to accommodate her amounted to a constructive discharge, or, in the alternative, whether the failure to accommodate was itself an adverse employment action (Webster v. Rockline Industries, Inc., No. 5:24-CV-5140 (W.D. Ark. Sept. 4, 2025)).

Auxiliary packout department. The employee was hired by Rockline on August 8, 2022, to work at the company's facility in Springdale, Arkansas. Her primary job, in the auxiliary packout department, was packing wet wipes into boxes as they came down a conveyor belt, placing the boxed wipes on a pallet, and moving the boxes with a pallet jack to an area where forklift drivers would pick them up. She also reloaded supplies and cleaned the packout area.

Hand pain. On March 27, 2023, she packed wet wipes in the auxiliary packout department, but the following day, she called in to work and reported she was experiencing hand pain radiating to her shoulder blade. She told the Rockline operator that she was worried she was having heart issues and was going to see a doctor.

The employee testified that, at the time, she did not believe she had suffered a workplace injury. She thought she was suffering a heart attack or a stroke.

Safety manager’s concern. Later that same day, the operator passed on the substance of the employee’s call to Rockline's assistant safety manager, who was concerned that the employee had suffered a work-related injury. The assistant safety manager sought to document the incident, and though she asked HR for the employee’s phone number and called her on March 28, the employee did not pick up.

Nurse’s recommendation. The employee had visited a medical facility in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on March 28 and was examined by Certified Nurse Practitioner (CNP). After the examination, the CNP sent her home with a note that stated her employer was to excuse her from work on March 28 due to injury and that she could return to work on April 3, though “with no left handed duty until next follow up.”

Incident report. On March 29, the employee called Rockline to report she was not coming in to work due to the hand injury, but her call was immediately transferred to the assistant safety manager, who instructed her to come in that day to meet with herself and the safety manager. The employee reported to the facility, where the two instructed her to fill out an incident report for OSHA purposes, which would start the process of filing a worker's compensation claim.

Employer’s medical exam and contradictory advice. The two safety managers also scheduled the employee to attend a medical appointment that same day and accompanied her to it. There, an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) examined the employee in the presence of both safety managers, and the employee informed them that she had already seen a health care provider who had assessed her injury and advised her not to use her left hand. The APRN “apparently disagreed with that advice,” said the court, and determined that the employee was fine to return to work immediately “with no restrictions.”

Reassigned? The employee testified that after all three left the APRN's office on March 29, the safety manager told her that she would likely be reassigned to clean the facility rather than return to the production line.

Report to work. When she reported to work on April 2, however, she was assigned to auxiliary packout for another shift, which she claimed caused her so much pain that she began to cry.

No accommodation offered. She complained to her supervisor as well as the HR manager, allegedly specifically mentioning her need for an accommodation to the latter, but the HR manager allegedly told her the safety manager had made that decision and “was doing his job.”

The employee further testified that she wrote a letter to the company, either on April 2 or April 3, “stating [she] was in excruciating pain, that they [were] forcing [her] to work, and that [she] had a doctor's excuse stating that [she] had restrictions until further investigation.” No accommodation, however, was offered in response.

Absences and discharge. On April 3, the employee failed to show up to work for her scheduled shift, which, according to Rockline's attendance policy, constituted an unexcused absence. She failed to call in to work again on April 4 and was fired the next day.

According to Rockline's policy, failing to report to work on two consecutive days without excuse justifies termination. Also, as of April 4, Rockline had calculated that the employee had accrued 13 unexcused absences over a rolling 12-month period, which was a separate reason to terminate her.

Lawsuit. She sued, alleging that Rockline discriminated against her in violation of the ADA and the Arkansas Civil Rights Act by failing to engage in the interactive accommodation process, failing to accommodate her documented disability, and creating an environment that left her with no choice but to refuse to come to work. Rockline argued that she never requested an accommodation and was fired for violating the company's attendance policy.

ADA disability discrimination. The court found that that the former employee established a prima facie case of disability discrimination. It was undisputed that Rockline was aware that she suffered a disabling hand injury on or about March 27, 2023, and that she visited a medical professional on March 28 who advised her to not perform the same job duties at work for a period of time. The record also indicated that Rockline's safety manager explicitly acknowledged that she was suffering from a disabling condition, determined she was entitled to an accommodation, identified at least two possible accommodations, and then denied any accommodation.

Finally, observed the court, a jury should be charged with deciding whether Rockline's failure to accommodate her amounted to a constructive discharge, or, in the alternative, whether the failure to accommodate was itself an adverse employment action.

The employer’s motion for summary judgment was denied.

The case is No. 5:24-CV-5140.

Attorneys: Christopher Burks (Punchwork Law) for Ieshia Webster. Ben H. Shipley, III (Robertson, Beasley, Shipley & Robinson) for Rockline Industries, Inc.

Companies: Rockline Industries, Inc.

Cases: DisabilityDiscrimination Discrimination Discharge Safety ArkansasNews