A former U.S. Postal Service employee can pursue her lawsuit in which she sought to work from home mornings because of a painful nerve condition that flares up early in the day, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in overturning a lower court ruling.
Dionne Montague worked as a public relations employee for the U.S. Postal Service in the Houston area from 2009 to 2017, according to the divided opinion by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans in Dionne A. Montague v. United States Postal Service.
Ms. Montague, who suffers from peripheral neuropathy, can drive to the office in the afternoon, but asked the postal service to let her work mornings from home as needed and report to the office each afternoon.
The postal service denied her request on the basis that driving and travel were essential to her job, and she was terminated, according to the complaint in the case. She sued in U.S. District Court in Houston, charging violation of the Rehabilitation Act.