People may have many different types of medical issues that affect their careers. Generally speaking, workers with disabling medical conditions can ask their current employers to accommodate them. The people with disabling medical conditions who could perform job functions with accommodations have the right to equal consideration along with any other viable candidates.
Professionals can request accommodations that range from accessible physical spaces to alternate job responsibilities and assistive technology. Ideally, employers are supportive and cooperative. In some cases, they may deny reasonable accommodation requests. Doing so can constitute disability discrimination unless the employer has a legally viable justification. The following are the scenarios in which businesses can (potentially) justify their refusal to accommodate workers.
When a company is very small
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the federal statute that establishes the right to workplace protections. The ADA only applies to businesses with 15 or more employees. If an employee has a job at a very small business or an applicant seeks a position at a small local company, the size of the organization may make it exempt from ADA requirements.
When an accommodation creates hardship
There is an expectation that employers should absorb the costs involved in making their facilities accessible or providing workers with assistive technology. However, sometimes those costs create a major burden. Other times, the support that workers request could prove significantly disruptive to company operations. If employers can reasonably assert that the accommodation request creates an undue hardship for the business, they may be able to justify the decision to deny the request.
When a worker doesn’t follow the right process
Businesses that are large enough to be subject to the ADA often have complex contracts and employee handbooks. They have specific company policies that workers have to follow. For example, disability accommodation policies may require that an employee provide a certain type of documentation to a specific manager or human resources professional. In scenarios where workers do not follow the right protocol, employers can potentially justify denying their accommodation requests.
Workers denied disability accommodations can sometimes hold businesses accountable for inappropriate discrimination. Reviewing – with a skilled legal team – what happened after making an accommodation request can help a worker evaluate their options. Taking legal action against an employer can potentially compensate a worker denied opportunities or terminated unfairly because of disability discrimination.
