535 U.S. 391 (2002) (U.S. Supreme Court)
US Airways v. Barnett is a foundational Supreme Court decision clarifying how the Americans with Disabilities Act's (ADA) reasonable accommodation mandate interacts with workplace seniority systems.
Does the ADA require an employer to make an exception to a bona fide seniority system as a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee seeking reassignment to a position he can perform?
Under the ADA, a requested accommodation that conflicts with the rules of a bona fide seniority system is ordinarily not a reasonable accommodation. The employer's showing of such a conflict typically suffices to defeat reasonableness. However, the employee may demonstrate special circumstances that make an exception to the seniority system reasonable in the particular case (e.g., where the system is not consistently applied, frequently excepted, or otherwise fails to create strong employee reliance interests). The burden proceeds as follows: (1) the employee must show that the accommodation (such as reassignment to a vacant position) is facially reasonable; (2) the employer may then show that the accommodation would violate a seniority system; and (3) the employee may attempt to show special circumstances making the accommodation reasonable notwithstanding the seniority conflict. An employer need not separately prove undue hardship once it has shown the seniority-system conflict renders the accommodation ordinarily unreasonable.
No. The ADA does not require an employer to violate a bona fide seniority system to accommodate a disabled employee in the run of cases. A conflict with such a system ordinarily renders the accommodation unreasonable, though an employee can attempt to show special circumstances making an exception reasonable. The Court vacated the Ninth Circuit's judgment and remanded for application of this standard.
Barnett is essential for understanding the ADA's reasonable accommodation doctrine, especially the limits of reassignment. It establishes that seniority systems generally trump accommodation requests but preserves a fact-intensive pathway for employees to show that an exception is still reasonable. The case offers a practical, exam-ready burden-shifting approach and highlights the importance of evidence about how a seniority system actually operates. For employers, it underscores documenting and consistently applying seniority rules; for employees, it emphasizes building a record of special circumstances—such as prior exceptions—that diminish coworker reliance and support reasonableness.