Arizona Worker Fails to Tie Rehire Denial to Wife’s Disability

An Arizona federal judge tossed a former state government worker’s claim that his wife’s degenerative bone disease unlawfully prevented him from getting rehired, despite adopting a less-stringent standard for public employees to prove disability discrimination.

Harry Richardson failed to show that his wife’s disability was a reason he didn’t get his old job back at the Department of Economic Security’s Office of Inspector General after resigning when her health deteriorated, Judge Susan Brnovich of the District of Arizona held Thursday. No evidence suggested the decision-makers knew about his wife’s disability, she said in granting summary judgment to the state.

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