Federal Court Denies SkyWest Summary Judgment in Employee Screen-Reader Accommodation Lawsuit

On September 28, 2026, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia denied a motion for summary judgment filed by SkyWest Airlines, Inc. in a workplace accommodation and discrimination lawsuit brought under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Judge Steven D. Grimberg largely rejected an earlier Report and Recommendation from a magistrate judge that had recommended dismissing the plaintiff's claims of disability discrimination and retaliation while sustaining the failure-to-accommodate claim. With this ruling, all three counts will proceed toward trial.

Background of the Dispute

The plaintiff was hired by SkyWest in July 2022 as a remote Corporate Technical Publications Specialist. Her duties included creating, editing, and reviewing HTML documents, publishing content to SkyWest's website, proofreading, and fixing broken links. In February 2022, she was diagnosed with amblyopia, a visual impairment that impairs image processing, causes blurriness, and worsens with prolonged screen reading.

Upon starting the role, the employee requested ClaroRead, an assistive read-aloud and screen-reading software. Her supervisor submitted an IT inquiry in early August 2022. While the request was pending, the employee reported eye pain and explained that her condition was affecting her speed and accuracy. In response, her supervisor stated that SkyWest could not pay for the software and remarked that the employee was making an excuse instead of accepting responsibility.

The employee escalated the request to company management in late October and submitted a formal medical accommodation request with an ophthalmologist's documentation in early November 2022. SkyWest purchased and installed the software on December 1, 2022—approximately four months after the initial request.

Performance Discipline and Termination

While her request was pending, SkyWest placed the plaintiff on extended probation and issued a formal disciplinary Letter of Instruction on October 28, 2022, reprimanding her for delays and accuracy issues. The letter repeated the supervisor's critique that the employee responded to feedback by discussing her personal struggles rather than accepting responsibility.

The plaintiff subsequently lodged internal complaints alleging discrimination and harassment. Following a paid administrative leave and an initial charge filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in February 2023, she received an evaluation showing she met performance standards once the assistive software was provided. However, she was issued a second disciplinary letter in July 2023 regarding pace and accuracy compared to coworkers. After filing amended EEOC charges in July 2023, she was terminated on August 2, 2023.

The Court's Decision

Under the ADA, employers must provide reasonable accommodations in a timely manner. SkyWest argued that the four-month timeframe was reasonable, that the employee could take breaks, and that built-in screen-reading tools might have been available on her corporate laptop.

The court held that genuine disputes of material fact remain on all counts:

• Failure to accommodate: Evidence showed SkyWest took virtually no action on the software inquiry for three months while simultaneously disciplining the employee for pace and accuracy issues caused by her visual condition.
• Disability discrimination and retaliation: A reasonable jury could find that supervisory remarks treating the employee's disability as an "excuse" tainted subsequent disciplinary actions, extensions of probation, and her ultimate dismissal.

The court ordered both parties to submit a joint proposed consolidated pretrial order within 30 days to prepare for trial scheduling in 2027.

Read the full decision via govinfo.gov.