When disabled employees request accommodations, they don’t always agree with their managers about the best way to proceed. How should managers handle that dispute?
The key is having an open discussion, rather than offering one take-it-or-leave-it solution.
In a recent case, an employee was having trouble doing her job because of a disability. When she saw her boss to talk about possible accommodations, the manager offered to transfer her to another position. The employee turned the offer down.
She then suggested a number of other options, including low-cost equipment that would help and a slight change in procedure that could enable her to get the work done. But the manager repeated that she could transfer to another job and refused to discuss the other possibilities.
The woman was later fired for poor performance and policy violations. She sued, claiming the company failed to accommodate her disability.
The court ruled in her favor. Though job transfers sometimes qualify as reasonable accommodations, the judge ruled that is only a last resort to be taken once the company examines other possibilities that keep the disabled employee in his or her current position.
Failing to even consider other reasonable alternatives, the company did not meet its legal obligations.
The bottom line: Disabled workers don’t always get the accommodations they want. But companies are required to engage in an “interactive process” with the employee to figure out a solution that is best for the employee, but still reasonable for the company.
Cite: Austin v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
