When dealing with injured, sick, or pregnant employees, employers must exercise extreme diligence when denying an accommodation request; it is not as clear-cut as it might appear. The courts (and juries) tend to favor employees. Employers are simply playing with Fire with a capital “F” if an accommodation is denied without first consulting with experienced labor counsel. Take the Ohio state court case discussed below.
On March 18, 2026, an Ohio jury awarded an employee $22.5 million dollars for her wrongful death claim against her employer for the loss of her child arising from the denial of her request for a pregnancy-related work accommodation. The jury found that the employer’s initial denial, of only two days, from her work-from-home request, was a substantial factor resulting in her baby’s death.
The employee, a fairly new claims associate for a logistics company, was prescribed bed rest by her doctor after she suffered a serious complication related to her pregnancy; this was not in dispute. When she requested a temporary work-from-home accommodation, as was allowed to others, and provided supporting medical documentation, the company denied the request. Instead, it placed her on unpaid leave of absence. Because she and her family depended upon her paycheck and continued medical benefits, she was unwilling to forgo any paychecks and the employee quickly returned to in-office work. At the end of her second day, after the work-from home-denial, the employer reconsidered and said she could work from home. However, unfortunately, that night, after the second day of in-office work, she suffered severe medical complications resulting in her child being born too early; six hours after being born, her baby girl died.
The employer’s counsel, we believe, of course, with hindsight, chose a disingenuous defense strategy that obviously offended and inflamed the jury, resulting in the huge verdict. Employer’s counsel conflated the employee having her mother drive her to work so she could ask her supervisor if she could work from home (which the supervisor said she could) and to pick up her computer so she could work at home, by saying she came to work and worked that day of her own volition.
Then, when the human resources department overruled the supervisor and denied the employee’s request to work-from-home, it placed her on unpaid leave. When the employee, needing her pay and medical benefits, felt she had to come into work, the employer’s counsel faulted the employee for coming into the office rather than staying on unpaid leave. It became clear that the employer made an error and wrongfully considered the employee’s request as one for unpaid leave of absence.
The baby’s estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit in February of 2023: Larkin v. Total Quality Logistics, LLC, (Hamilton County, Ohio). There is no reported decision, and the above alleged facts have been assembled from copies of the complaint and motions filed in the case; it will likely be appealed.
We highlight this extreme case because it shows the real danger and consequences of the improper handling of an employee’s good-faith request for a reasonable work accommodation. If the employee suffers physical harm as a result of the denial, or even the unreasonable delay in approval, the employer may be on the hook not only for lost wages, but also the damages that flow from the denial/delay, including wrongful death, medical bills and costs, and pain and suffering.
As this employee was relatively new and did not appear to even qualify for FMLA leave, which is unpaid leave, the employer was offering a leave of absence instead of allowing the employee to work from home. However, she had other causes of action under federal and state law.
Under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §12101 et seq., the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), 29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq. and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), 42 U.S.C. 2000gg et seq., covered employers are required to assess, through an interactive process with a covered employee, whether a suggested accommodation may allow an employee to fulfill their required job duties in a manner least burdensome on the business.
To legally justify denying a reasonable accommodation request, an employer must demonstrate the accommodation would impose an undue hardship, meaning a substantial cost or difficulty, as determined by factors such as the nature and cost of the accommodation, the employer’s financial resources, and the impact on business operations. An employer does not have to create a new position for the employee, but where the disabled/pregnant employee could perform the essential functions of the job by working from home, an employer (especially a large employer, as this was) will have a difficult time justifying a denial.
This case serves as a reminder that the stakes of these employment decisions are very high, and mistakes can lead to drastic consequences for both employee and employer. Employers should review employee job descriptions for accuracy and train supervisors on the accommodation process and what is required under the ADA, FMLA, and PWFA. As always, documentation is key. Experienced labor and employment counsel can help successfully navigate this process and should be contacted as soon as there is any discussion about the denial of an accommodation.
A short phone call or two (or emails) with labor counsel before a denial could greatly increase the chances of avoiding liability, six figures of attorney’s fees, and serve to avoid harming an employee and his/her family.
