In the recent case of Jona R. v. Dep’t of State, EEOC Appeal No. 0120182063 (January 22, 2020), the EEOC found the Agency failed to accommodate a federal employee when it denied her request for flexible situational telework. The employee, who was an individual with a disability because of her Diabetes and Autonomic Neuropathy, requested flexible situational telework. Specifically, she “needed to be able to determine each morning if it was ‘appropriate to go into work or work from home depending upon [her] symptoms’” and “to decide if she was too ill to drive into the office to work on a particular day when she was experiencing symptoms.” Although the Agency claimed the reasonable accommodation would pose an undue hardship, the EEOC found that core duties of the position could be performed remotely. In finding discrimination, the EEOC reminded the “Agency that the federal government is charged with the goal of being a ‘model employer’ of individuals with disabilities, which may require it to consider innovation, fresh approaches, and technology as effective methods of providing reasonable accommodations.”

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