3rd Circuit Finds for Philadelphia Water Department on Employee’s MTBE Disability Claim

PHILADELPHIA — The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed summary judgment for the Philadelphia Water Department on allegations by a former employee that the department failed to accommodate her sensitivity to MTBE and retaliated against her for raising the issue.

The federal appeals court’s May 7 unpublished opinion affirmed a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which rejected claims brought by Sylvia Yovtcheva under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Yovtcheva said she began working for the Water Department’s Bureau of Laboratory Services in 2005, and by 2008 was experiencing health problems she attributed …