## Facts

- Howard County provided fire services through both volunteer fire corporations and a separate county department employing career firefighters; volunteers could limit functions and were not subject to the same testing and operational demands.
- John Huber served as a volunteer firefighter and became certified as a cardiac rescue technician.
- Huber applied for a career firefighter recruit position and, after a required medical exam in which he disclosed childhood asthma and inhaler use, was initially recommended for hire and began recruit training.
- During the fire academy’s physically demanding training, Huber had respiratory symptoms consistent with asthma and used his inhaler in connection with exertional activities.
- Medical evaluations concluded Huber’s asthma could be triggered by conditions inherent in firefighting (smoke, fumes, allergens, weather extremes), creating a significant risk of incapacitation absent reliable inhaler use.
- Physicians expressed concern that the inhaler Huber used was not designed for extreme heat, raising reliability and safety questions in fireground conditions.
- The County terminated Huber’s recruit employment, concluding he could not safely perform essential career firefighter duties without posing unacceptable risk to himself, coworkers, and the public.
- Huber continued volunteer service after termination.
- Huber asserted he could work as a career firefighter if allowed to use his inhaler as needed and if supervisors evaluated him at each scene to determine whether he should be sent into certain hazardous firefighting tasks.

## Issues

1. Whether Huber was an “otherwise qualified” individual with a disability under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for the position of career firefighter.
2. Whether the County failed to provide reasonable accommodation for Huber’s asthma, or whether his proposed accommodations were unreasonable given essential job functions and safety requirements.

## Decision

- The court granted the County’s motion for summary judgment.
- The court held Huber was not otherwise qualified for the career firefighter position because he could not safely and reliably perform essential functions, even with the accommodations he proposed.
- The court held the County did not unlawfully fail to accommodate Huber; the requested measures were not reasonable for emergency firefighting operations.

## Legal Principles

- Under § 504, an employer may deny employment if the individual cannot perform the essential functions of the position safely and reliably, with or without reasonable accommodation.
- The “otherwise qualified” inquiry is job-specific and may incorporate safety risk to the employee, coworkers, and the public in high-risk occupations.
- An accommodation is not reasonable if it would require operationally impracticable screening or selective deployment that undermines rapid emergency response or effectively removes essential duties from the position.
- An accommodation that would fundamentally alter the nature of the job or the employer’s emergency operations is not required.
- Ability to perform limited volunteer firefighting tasks does not establish qualification for a career firefighter role with broader, mandatory duties and readiness requirements.

## Conclusion

The court entered summary judgment for Howard County, concluding that asthma-related risks made the plaintiff not otherwise qualified for full-time firefighting and that his proposed accommodations—reliance on a potentially unreliable inhaler in extreme heat and on-scene task screening—were not reasonable under § 504.


Huber v. Howard Cnty., 849 F. Supp. 407 (D. Md. 1994)