If you or a loved one are unable to work because of symptoms caused by Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract, you may be eligible for Social Security disability benefits, including both Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Because every full-time job requires that a worker maintain regular attendance eight hours per day, five days per week, fifty weeks per year, a person suffering from severe Crohn’s disease may be unable to work due to persistent abdominal pain and attendant fatigue, not to mention significant increases in such pain and fatigue during flare-ups, which can last days or weeks at a time and be so severe as to limit a person strictly to lying in bed or on the couch, always within a few feet of an available bathroom.
Even if fatigue and pain were not debilitating alone, which they can be in many cases, one of the hallmarks of severe Crohn’s disease symptomatology is frequent diarrhea with urgency, especially due to flare-ups. A person with Crohn’s disease who has diarrhea at least six to eight times per day with urgency will be unable to work in virtually all workplaces aside from accommodated work environments or protected workshops. While large employers will typically have larger workspaces with a large enough number of bathrooms to ensure that a person with Crohn’s disease will have access to an available bathroom, large workspaces generally cause an employee to have to walk a longer distance from their workstation to the bathroom, which, given the urgency associated with Crohn’s disease, may make it impossible for such a person to make it to the bathroom in time to avoid having an accident. On the other end of the spectrum, small employers may only be able to offer one bathroom, which may be occupied by other employees throughout the day, leaving a person with Crohn’s disease without an available bathroom during significant portions of the work day. Furthermore, if either scenario led to an accident, a person suffering from Crohn’s disease would need to take significant time to clean himself up and change clothes, during which time he would be unable to continue working. Without an employer providing an accommodation that allows such a worker unlimited and nearly instant access to a bathroom and extra time throughout the day to use the bathroom, such a worker would be unable to perform even part-time work, even if he were somehow able to overcome the fatigue and pain associated with severe Crohn’s disease. Because such an accommodation is unlikely, especially for unskilled workers, any person who has severe Crohn’s disease and is unable to work may have a strong case for Social Security disability benefits.
If you would like to speak with an attorney about how your Crohn’s disease symptoms prevent you from working and how this affects your Social Security disability claim, please contact our office today via phone or the contact form on this site.
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