Case Summary
Shelly T. Black was a school secretary who had worked for the Paterson Public Schools since 2005. After suffering a heart attack in 2019, she requested to continue working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic due to her documented heart condition and her doctors' recommendations. The district denied her accommodation request without engaging in any interactive process and required her to return to in-person work, leaving her no choice but to retire at age 64 to protect her health. She filed suit against the district and four named administrators for disability discrimination, constructive discharge, and retaliation under the NJLAD and CEPA.
Background
Shelly T. Black was employed as a school secretary for the Paterson Public Schools from September 26, 2005. She never had any disciplinary or performance issues during her employment. On April 19, 2019, she suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for two and a half days, after which she took approximately five months of medical leave to recover. On May 8, 2019, the Director of Employee Services reprimanded her for taking the medical leave and cited her attendance record. The district subsequently granted her an ADA accommodation leave and later approved an abbreviated schedule to allow her to attend cardiac therapy sessions prescribed by her doctor.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring and summer of 2020, all Paterson Public Schools staff — including Ms. Black — worked remotely without issue. In August 2020, the district directed staff to return to in-person work on a hybrid schedule beginning September 1, 2020. Ms. Black submitted a doctor's note stating that she "has a chronic medical condition and she is susceptible to COVID-19 exposure and other illnesses" and that "it is medically necessary for her to continue working from home." A second physician also wrote that she "would be considered a higher risk patient and she should ensure all precautions are undertaken to mitigate risk at work."
In a letter to the Superintendent, Ms. Black also raised concerns that the district's return-to-work directive violated Governor Murphy's executive order limiting indoor gatherings and contradicted the district's own August 12, 2020, resolution mandating virtual instruction through at least November 1. She invoked her collective bargaining agreement rights and stated she remained ready and willing to work remotely.
Her ADA accommodation request was initially denied because she had not completed the required forms. After submitting the completed forms with her physicians' documentation, the district denied her request on September 21, 2020, stating that her secretarial duties were essential for the start of the school year and could not be performed remotely — despite having permitted her and other staff to work remotely and acknowledging in the same denial letter that she could continue to work remotely on designated remote days. The district also acknowledged that other secretaries who did not have medical disabilities had not requested remote work accommodations for medical reasons.
The district never engaged Ms. Black in an interactive process to determine what accommodations could reasonably be provided. On November 22, 2020, Ms. Black wrote to the Director of Employee Services that she was forced to retire prematurely on December 31, 2020, to preserve her health. In her letter she wrote: "It deeply saddens and concerns me that after several employees have been affected by this deadly virus and good friend (Eastside Administrator) who passed that I would not be considered the minimum contest to work from home while having a severe health condition." She was forced into retirement at age 64. It was later discovered that school staff continued to work remotely through the end of the spring 2021 school year.
