A “reasonable accommodation” is any adjustment or change to the application/hiring process, the job itself, the way the job is done, or the work environment that allows a person with a disability – who is qualified for the job – to perform the necessary and essential functions of that job. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), accommodations are considered “reasonable” if they do not create an undue hardship on the employer or pose a direct threat.
Although each employee (or potential employee) should be evaluated individually regarding accommodation requests, listed below are several accommodations that would be considered reasonable:
Quite simply, a reasonable accommodation may be the difference between a qualified person with a disability being able to perform their job or not. This could have financial implications for that person, causing stress and emotional heartaches with the feeling of not being able to compete in the workplace the same as peers without disabilities.
Recently, a legal case was decided in favor of the plaintiff, a person with Down Syndrome, whose work schedule was changed after many years causing difficulty arriving to work on time, leading to her dismissal from the company she worked for.
From the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Newsroom:
“CHICAGO – An eight-member jury in Green Bay, Wisconsin returned a verdict of $125,150,000 in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on three claims of disability discrimination against Walmart, the federal agency announced today. The jury found that the retailer failed to accommodate Marlo Spaeth, a longtime employee with Down syndrome, and then fired her in July 2015 because of her disability. The EEOC presented evidence that a change Walmart made to Spaeth’s longstanding work schedule caused her significant difficulty. When she requested her start and end times be adjusted by 60 to 90 minutes and to be returned to her prior schedule, Walmart failed to act on the request and instead fired her.
Spaeth had worked for the company for approximately 16 years and had consistently received positive performance evaluations from her managers, according to evidence presented at trial. The jury also found that Walmart turned down Spaeth’s later request to be rehired because of her disability or because of their need to accommodate her disability.”
The accommodation requested (altering the employee’s schedule to what it had been previously) did not constitute an undue burden for the company, nor did it pose a direct threat to other employees or customers. As such, it was a reasonable accommodation that should have been made but was not. Due to the lack of implementation of this reasonable accommodation, the employee was late to work consistently and was fired for this reason.
Although the verdict will be reduced to $300,000 – the maximum allowable under federal law for companies with more than 500 employees – the statement made by the jury is a strong one. Egregious violations of the ADA with regard to employment are unacceptable.
Further information regarding the case “EEOC v. Wal-Mart Stores East LP, E.D. Wis., No. 1:17-cv-00070”:
LI Tech Advisors can help your company identify reasonable accommodations on a case-by-case basis and educate your team on all aspects of accessibility.
Anthony has been in the MSP business since before the acronym existed. Managed IT once started as break-fix solutions and some light phone support.
Since then, he has seen the industry flourish into a landscape of platforms, cloud servers, software tools and AI . Tailoring network configurations and software stacks to the specific needs of each business.
In his current role, he focuses on proactive planning, ensuring clients can avoid potential issues altogether. This involves meticulous planning for enhanced business continuity, allowing swift resolution of any unforeseen challenges. What initially began as addressing "fires" through break-fix solutions has evolved into a proactive approach, ensuring that such issues are prevented from arising in the first place.
