Disabled County Worker Sought Transfer, Unable to Show Job Bias

A long-time Fairfax County, Va., worker requested and accepted a transfer to a different department as an accommodation for her multiple sclerosis and therefore failed to show the move amounted to disability-based discrimination or retaliation, the Fourth Circuit ruled Friday.

Viola Laird said she was effectively demoted when she switched to a position with the county police department after years working for its Department of Procurement and Material Management.

But the fact that it was Laird who suggested the lateral transfer, which the county agreed to, to settle her then-pending Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge left Laird unable to establish ...