## Facts

- Terrianne Lowe worked for the District since 1988–89 as a high-school counselor; her counseling work was largely sedentary and required no accommodation.
- Lowe had post-polio syndrome, used leg braces, and had medical restrictions against prolonged standing and walking due to risk of accelerated muscle deterioration and likely wheelchair use.
- In 2005–06, after performance complaints, the superintendent decided not to renew Lowe’s extra-duty counseling contract for 2006–07 and to reassign her to a classroom science-teaching position; her base salary would remain but she would lose extra-duty pay.
- A physical-science position appeared to be the likely opening, associated with a very small, crowded classroom that, as configured, could not accommodate a walker or wheelchair in aisles between lab tables.
- Before the school year ended, Lowe submitted a physician letter and a written set of requested accommodations aimed at reducing walking/standing demands and enabling safe movement in the classroom, including configuration and scheduling changes.
- Lowe testified she was told that no accommodations would be made, and she received no meaningful follow-up for approximately four months.
- About two weeks before school began, Lowe met with District officials; she contended the superintendent had not reviewed her written requests and no concrete accommodation plan was offered.
- Lowe resigned roughly two days after the meeting, before the 2006–07 school year began, and sued under the ADA for failure to accommodate (and advanced a constructive-discharge theory). She conceded an initially pleaded FMLA claim at summary judgment.

## Issues

1. Whether genuine disputes of material fact existed on Lowe’s ADA failure-to-accommodate claim, including whether the District failed to participate in a good-faith interactive process and effectively refused accommodation.
2. Whether the evidence could support constructive discharge—i.e., whether the District’s actions and the likely assignment created working conditions so intolerable that a reasonable person would feel compelled to resign.

## Decision

- The Tenth Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the District and remanded.
- The court held the record contained genuine disputes of material fact on whether the District failed to reasonably accommodate Lowe and failed to engage in a good-faith interactive process.
- The court also held a reasonable jury could find constructive discharge based on the anticipated assignment to an inaccessible classroom and the District’s alleged refusal or inability to commit to accommodations.
- The court did not determine liability; it held only that the disputes required resolution by a factfinder rather than on summary judgment.

## Legal Principles

- The ADA requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to a qualified individual with a disability unless the employer shows undue hardship.
- A failure-to-accommodate claim may be supported by evidence that the employer did not engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process to identify and implement workable accommodations.
- On summary judgment, courts must view evidence and draw reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmovant; credibility disputes and conflicting accounts about accommodation discussions are for the jury.
- Constructive discharge occurs when working conditions are so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employee’s position would feel compelled to resign; an imminent assignment incompatible with known medical limitations, coupled with apparent refusal to accommodate, can support the claim.

## Conclusion

The Tenth Circuit held that disputed facts about the District’s response to Lowe’s accommodation requests and its handling of her reassignment could permit a jury to find both an ADA accommodation failure and constructive discharge, requiring reversal of summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.


Lowe v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 1 of Logan Cnty., 363 F. App’x 548 (10th Cir. 2010)