FedEx Freight worker alleges illegal “100% healed” rule blocked her return

Here is the shape of it, in plain terms. Williams says she went out on an approved medical leave, then got a doctor’s note clearing her for “light duty” with some accommodations. She says she tried again and again to open the “interactive process” – the conversation the ADA requires so an employer and employee can work out reasonable accommodations – and hit a wall. 

One email, the complaint says, made the wall explicit. Williams alleges that on or around June 5, 2025, management told her she could not come back without a “full release without restrictions.” The EEOC’s determination quotes an email to her of that date reading: “Did you get a full release without restrictions from the Dr.? We cannot return you to work until we have that.” 

That is the line that should make HR leaders wince. A blanket “100% healed” policy is one of the oldest traps in disability law, because it skips the individual assessment the statute demands. The complaint calls it a “per se violation of the ADA.” 

Williams also alleges the leave cost her money and momentum. The filing says FedEx Freight “systematically withheld, denied, and blocked” her from cost-of-living adjustments, raises, and bonuses that non-disabled coworkers received. And when she applied for internal lateral roles – weekly, she says – the complaint alleges the company denied her interviews and, more than once, took down the posting within 24 hours of her applying. 

The agency record is what gives this teeth. The EEOC’s Boston Area Office investigated and, in a determination dated March 18, 2026, found that Williams “established a prima facie case of employment discrimination under the ADA” and that FedEx Freight “engaged in employment discrimination in violation of the ADA.” The same determination notes the agency found insufficient evidence of race, sex, or age discrimination under Title VII. After conciliation failed, the EEOC issued a right-to-sue notice dated April 7, 2026.