En Banc 6th Circuit Returns To Practicality, Finding Regular And Predictable Attendance To Be Essential Function Of Position

In May 2014, we reported on an opinion of a divided panel of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit embracing the position of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that virtual full-time telecommuting could be a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for an employee whose irritable bowel syndrome rendered her unable to maintain regular attendance at work.  The EEOC's argument and the panel's opinion both relied on assumptions that advances in technology required the abandonment of precedents permitting employers to require regular physical attendance at the workplace, while giving short shrift to the substantial evidence supporting the business judgment of the employer, Ford Motor Company, that personal interaction was a necessary part of the plaintiff's job.  The panel's reasoning was encapsulated in the following quote from the opinion: "the law must respond to the advance of technology in the employment context as