Caterpillar dealer faces ADA suit over fitness test it already scrapped

Wagner Equipment had adopted a fitness-for-duty policy in January 2015 that classified the painter role as “Heavy,” the complaint states. The test under that classification included tasks like lifting 100 pounds from the floor, descending ladder rungs while holding a 74-pound box, and carrying a 100-pound sack of sand 10 feet to a 50-inch-high surface and back – three times.

But in August 2021 – while the worker was still on medical leave – the company updated its policy, the complaint alleges. It reclassified the painter position from “Heavy” to “Medium” and lowered the maximum lifting requirement to 50 pounds.

The worker was never tested on the updated standard. On November 5, 2021, she took the old 2014 “Heavy” version instead, according to the filing.

She completed most of the tasks, the complaint states. She managed a 100-pound lift from the floor to her knuckles and descended four ladder rungs while holding a 74-pound box. The only task she could not finish was the repeated 100-pound sand-sack carry. After one attempt, she told the tester she felt unsafe continuing out of concern for her knee.

The tester’s own notes tell their own story, according to the complaint. The tester recorded that the worker stated she did not have to do any heavy lifting in her role, and that attempting to lift 100 pounds at work would get her written up for a safety violation. Separately, the complaint alleges the worker had never had to lift 100-pound sandbags in her years as a painter at Wagner Equipment.