Federal Employment Problem

[IMLizard]

First of all, I'm not sure whether or not this is the appropriate forum for my question, as it seems to span at least two categories, but here goes anyway.
Here is the situation. An Federal employee (Veterans Hospital) is injured on the job. (back injury) The employee is reassigned to another dept where the physical demands are not as heavy. Over an 8 year period, certain parts of the employees job aggravate the back injury, namely extended walking. The employee is placed on restricted duty by her doctors, and for a year and a half satisfactorily performs a modified job. Two co-workers become unhappy with the situation. The employee is verbally attacked, and the two coworkers write a complaint to management that it is "not fair" that the injured worker is not sharing in all the workload. The management requests medical investigative information from the employee and her doctors. The results are basically that the employee can continue to perform the modified duties of the past year and a half, but is not able to go back to full duty requiring as much as 70% of the day walking.
The management calls the injured employee to a meeting, without Union Representation, and informs the employee that she can either take disability, or they will no longer have position for her.
What recourse does this employee have? Obviously Union representation, but any other suggestions would be appreciated. Since the situation concerns Federal employment, are the laws different? The case is in Pennsylvania. Thanks for your input!

 

[buddy2bear]

Americans With Disabilities Act. Read it closely. If you are a "qualified individual" with a disability and/or are perceived by your employer as having a disability which affects one or more of your major life functions, then this is what you need to look into. This is a "complicated" Act because you must be able to perform the "essential functions" of your job, with or without accommodation. "Essential functions" and "major life activities" are whole cans of worms. You should talk to a labor and employment law attorney to really protect yourself. Don't feel as if you are alone - Americans are getting older (of course, there's no way to stop that), living longer and working longer. Injuries and lifetime diseases are to be expected as a result and this Act is going to play big time in the very near future for the "baby boomers!"