What Employers Need to Know About the Americans with Disability Act

By: Meridian Law

Employers have many demands on their time each day. However, one essential duty they have is, unfortunately, one of the most often overlooked. Employers must ensure that they are not discriminating or harassing employees based on any protected classification, such as race, nationality, religion, or disability.

With regard to disability, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) addresses discrimination and harassment related to employees with actual or perceived disabilities. This federal law applies to every employer, with more than 15 employees, in every state.

While employers are required to follow ADA requirements, they often misunderstand some of the concepts. Let’s look at a couple of these concepts in more detail.

What is a Disability?

Although this question is straightforward—the answer is not. Unfortunately, there is no specific list of medical conditions or other detailed information about what is considered a disability under the ADA. Instead, the law provides a generalized definition of disability, which means that what constitutes a disability is determined on a case-by-case basis. 

In general, someone has a disability if they have has a “substantial impairment” that affects a “major life activity.”

Substantial: A condition is substantial when it is not minor. A substantial condition will likely last a long period of time (but not always). Whether an impairment is substantial is an issue generally decided by a jury. 

Major Life Activity: The ADA provides specific examples of what major life activities might be, including hearing, seeing, speaking, walking, breathing, caring for oneself, learning, and working.

In some cases an employer may “perceive” an employee as disabled even if the employee is not. The employer may not discriminate against the employee based on that perception, even if that perception is wrong.  

To be protected as a disabled worker under the ADA, the worker must also be “qualified to perform the essential function or duties of the job” with accommodation. In other words, if the employee can do their job with reasonable accommodation, they are protected. 

What is a Reasonable Accommodation? 

The term “reasonable accommodation” is a hot topic for employers—and for good reason. Employers are required to provide a reasonable accommodation for a disabled employee if the employee requests it and needs it to perform their job. 

An accommodation is any change in the working environment on account of a disability, designed to make work for that particular employee easier. Examples of accommodations might include:

·      Reduced working hours;

·      Flexible work schedules, such as working remotely;

·      Installing ramps or other handicap accessible tools;

·      Implementing hearing impairment equipment (such as live captioning);

·      Using specially designed tools or equipment; and

·      Changes in work duties.

The “reasonableness” of an accommodation is important because employers cannot feasibly implement every requested accommodation. Some changes to the working environment will not make sense based on the position, or they might be unreasonable because of how much they would cost to implement. However, unless the cost of providing the accommodation is exorbitant, most employers would be well-advised not to refuse an accommodation on that ground.  Again, what constitutes “reasonableness” is determined on a case-by-case basis. 

All of the definitions and requirements under the ADA can be somewhat overwhelming for employers. Whether you want to address compliance or you have received a complaint, talk to the experienced team at Meridian Law. We can provide additional information about your rights and obligations under the ADA and other federal and state employment laws.