Brenda Brown v. City of Tucson, a Municipal Corporation of the State of Arizona

We must decide whether a city police department violated a detective’s rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

I

Brenda Brown was a detective in the Tucson Police Department. She was hired in May of 1982 and earned a promotion to detective in 1988. In May of 1997, Brown became severely depressed and attempted suicide, leading to her hospitalization and several weeks of medical leave soon thereafter. When Brown returned to work in July of 1997, the Department’s consulting clinical psychologist recommended that Brown not be required to work “call out” duty, as it would disrupt sleep habits and, in so doing, contribute to her depression. In addition, Brown’s personal physician noted that she had been prescribed certain medications designed to help her sleep that might impair her ability to drive at night.

A

Brown was assigned to Team Four of the Department’s Neighborhood Crimes Unit, where her immediate supervisor was Sgt. Robert Holliday. Brown asserts that both she and Holliday’s immediate supervisor, Lt. William Richards, informed Holli-day that she was to be excused from nighttime call-out duty.

Like Brown, Holliday was new to Team Four, having been transferred…