A new lawsuit in Georgia — the first of its kind in the U.S. — could partly answer that question. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last month sued a metro Atlanta company on behalf of an employee who asked to work from home because of COVID-19 concerns.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported last week that the case represents another pandemic-related challenge, in addition to grappling with how to handle the upcoming vaccine mandate and deciding long-term office space needs. It’s a new wrinkle for workers, too, as they weigh the need to keep a job versus potential virus exposure.

The case centers around a worker with health issues that wants to continue working from home because of immunity issues.

The EEOC is the federal agency responsible for enforcing civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC lawsuit does not involve a situation where the worker must be on site to perform the job. It deals only with what happens if an employee asks to work from home due to a medical condition they say increases their risk of contracting COVID-19 or other health conditions.

In the Georgia case, the employee’s doctor provided a letter saying she should work from home, but the EEOC stressed in the lawsuit that the same situation could apply to any worker with a disability.

In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Atlanta, the EEOC accused Danish company ISS Facility Services of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act when it denied Ronisha Moncrief’s request to work from home two days per week and to be allowed frequent breaks when working on-site.

AJC