A federal court in Ohio denied summary judgment to both parties where an employer refused to hire an applicant who used opioid medication as a forklift driver. In Hartmann v. Graham Packaging, L.P., the employee applied for a job, disclosing his use of prescription opioids for pain relief. Upon request, two doctor’s notes were provided, but his pre-employment drug test was marked “safety-sensitive” and he ultimately was not hired because of his medication use. The court found that there were disputed issues of fact as to whether the parties participated in the interactive process in good faith and whether the applicant’s opioid use rendered him unsafe to perform the job.
