Some employees aren’t happy about a co-worker’s disability accommodation. How should we handle this?
Quick Answer
Tell the employees that your policy is to provide appropriate assistance to any employee who experiences difficulties with job performance. Provide regular and ongoing training and education to all employees regarding the reasonable accommodation requirements set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act and corresponding state and local laws.
Legal Perspective
Fisher Phillips
New Orleans, Louisiana
First of all, the wrong response would be indicating that the company is only providing the accommodation because it is legally required and that it would not otherwise accommodate the employee, says employment attorney Edward Harold of Fisher & Phillips LLP.
While this might direct the co-worker’s ire toward the government instead of the employer, it’s not going to resolve the co-workers’ feelings which could lead to harassment or other negative treatment toward the disabled employee.
You should also never discuss an employee’s underlying condition with any other employees.
A better response would be something general like, “We try to work with all our employees to help them be successful and we know you would want us to do the same for you if a situation arose in which you needed that consideration.”
Relevant Case Law
Persechino v. United Services, Inc.
Tartaro-McGowan v. Inova Home Health, LLC
Brown v. Riverside Elem. Sch. Dist. No. 2
HR Insight
VIDERI Inc.
New York, New York
I would speak to those employees to learn why they aren’t happy, says Laura Florin, Global Head of HR at VIDERI Inc.
Some may not understand how accommodations are approached and determined. Without talking about a specific individual, I educate employees on the decision process. I emphasize that the accommodation is only so the employee can do 100% of their position. The goal of an accommodation is not to let someone do less work.
That usually helps folks understand how the accommodation process really works.
First Children's Finance
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Other employees aren’t privy to knowing the details of a co-worker’s accommodation for confidentiality reasons, explains HR Manager Judith Aminmentse.
Tell the person that you cannot discuss another employee’s accommodation with them due to confidentiality, and that if they have a need for accommodation, they should bring that to your attention. You will go through the interactive process with them.
The Assistance Fund
Orlando, Florida
Hear them out, but don’t provide any information that could fall under HIPAA, etc. Just listen and make notes, says HR Generalist Allison Jones.
They may have a valid concern, and the accommodation may need to be revisited for a better solution, if it truly is disrupting the work environment or causing delays, etc.
If the concerns feel petty, I would simply thank them for bringing their concern to my attention and let them know that the accommodation was approved by leadership. Let them know you will monitor the situation.
The Cost of Noncompliance
Remote work accommodation canceled: Employer pays $160K to settle EEOC suit
Who was involved: Gentiva Health Services, which does business as Kindred at Home in Georgia, and an employee with disabilities.
What happened: An employee who was diagnosed with Morton’s neuroma and capsulitis of the metatarsophalangeal joints in both feet was advised by her doctor to stay off her feet. As such, she asked for an accommodation: remote work for three weeks. The employer initially allowed the employee to telecommute as requested but pulled the plug on the accommodation after just one week. The employer then placed the employee on unpaid leave without benefits for four months even though she was able to do her job remotely, the EEOC’s suit alleged.
Result: The company paid $160,000 to settle the complaint. In addition to the financial payout, the company also agreed to regular reporting, monitoring, annual training, distribution of ADA policies and notice posting.
Info: Kindred at Home to Pay $160,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit, 1/26/21.
Accommodation dispute: Company pays $42K to woman with disability
Who was involved: NSN, LLC, a Virginia Corporation that provides staffing for a licensing and vocational testing center in Raleigh, North Carolina, and an employee who worked at the Raleigh worksite until she was fired.
What happened: When the employee was hired in 2016, she was granted disability-related accommodations. The accommodations remained in place until the fall of 2019 when a new supervisor partially rescinded them. Afterward, the employee questioned the decision, and the company responded by disciplining her and reducing her scheduled work hours. The employee complained in writing that the company’s actions were discriminatory. Six days later, she was fired, and she filed a complaint with the EEOC. This conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the EEOC alleged in a lawsuit on the employee’s behalf.
Result: The company agreed to pay $42,000 to the woman to resolve the claim. Under a two-year consent decree, the company also agreed to:
- Adopt and implement a new anti-discrimination, non-retaliation and disability accommodation policy.
- Provide training to all employees and managers.
Info: NSN, LLC Will Pay $42K to Settle Disability Discrimination, Retaliation Suit, 6/15/23.
What an ADA mistake looks like: Company pays $100K
Who was involved: Citizens Bank, N.A., a financial corporation, and an employee in Rhode Island who suffers from anxiety.
What happened: The company denied a call center employee’s accommodation request, according to an EEOC lawsuit. Specifically, the worker developed an anxiety disorder and asked to be transferred to a position that didn’t require him to field phone calls from aggravated customers.
The employer had “hundreds of nearby job openings,” but it refused to reassign the employee or “discuss alternative accommodations until he returned to his job at the call center, the same position his disability prevented him from performing,” the EEOC asserted. As a result, the employee was forced to resign, the EEOC said.
In the EEOC’s view, the alleged conduct violated the ADA.
Result: To settle the lawsuit, the company agreed to:
- Pay $100,000 to the employee
- Revise its reasonable accommodation policy
- Train its employees that noncompetitive reassignment can be a reasonable accommodation
- Provide specialized training to the HR department, and
- Appoint an internal monitor to ensure the company’s compliance with the agreement.
Info: Citizens Bank, N.A. to Pay $100,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit, 11/22/23.
Key Takeaways
- Provide education and training to all employees regarding the reasonable accommodation requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and corresponding state or local laws.
- Tell employees that your policy is to provide work-related assistance to employees who need it.
- Tell employees that many workplace issues are personal and that it is your policy to respect employee privacy.
- Assure employees that their privacy would be similarly respected if they needed a workplace change for personal reasons.
- An employer cannot claim undue hardship with respect to the provision of accommodation based solely on the fact that providing the accommodation negatively impacts the morale of other employees.
- If the provision of a specific accommodation would unduly disrupt the ability of other employees to do their job, the employer may have an undue hardship defense that relieves it of a duty to provide the accommodation.
- Employers may not disclose that an employee is receiving a disability-related accommodation to other employees because this is tantamount to disclosing that the recipient of the reasonable accommodation is an individual with a disability.
- Employees receiving disability-related job accommodations are free to voluntarily disclose that fact to their co-workers if they choose to do so.
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