When can a company rescind an ADA accommodation?

Last Updated: August 1, 2023

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Quick Answer

An employer can rescind an accommodation that is creating an undue hardship or unacceptable safety risk. It can also rescind an accommodation that is not enabling the employee to perform essential job functions. Even if an accommodation is rescinded, employers must look at whether other effective reasonable accommodations are available.

Legal Perspective

Legal Disclaimer

By Christy Phanthavong, Employment Law Attorney
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Chicago, Illinois

Under the ADA, an employee who is a qualified individual with a disability is entitled to a reasonable accommodation that does not create undue hardship if the accommodation is needed in order to perform one or more essential functions of the employee’s position or to enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment, explains employment law attorney Christy Phanthavong (christy.phanthavong@bclplaw.com) of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP.

If an employee is no longer a qualified individual with a disability or no longer needs the accommodation, or if the accommodation is no longer effective, has become unreasonable or creates an undue hardship, then the employer may rescind the accommodation.

This will always be a fact-specific analysis and should involve a documented, interactive process between the employer and the employee.

In addition, if an accommodation is rescinded, the interactive process should include an analysis of whether a different accommodation would be effective and reasonable, and would not create undue hardship.

Relevant Case Law

Webb v. Chesterfield County

A Virginia firefighter asked to be assigned to the day shift to avoid aggravating his post-traumatic stress disorder. The employer initially granted the request but then switched him back to 24-hour shifts. He sued the employer under the ADA, alleging an unlawful failure to accommodate. The court refused to dismiss…

View full case summary

Hostettler v. College of Wooster

An employer allowed a human resources employee to work on a part-time basis for eight weeks to accommodate her postpartum depression. When she asked for another six weeks, the employer fired her. She sued, alleging unlawful failure to accommodate under the ADA. A lower court ruled against her. It said…

View full case summary

Boyle v. City of Pell City

A heavy equipment manager in Alabama hurt his back at work and could no longer work in that position. His supervisor allowed him to perform the job duties of a foreman, and the actual foreman agreed to work as a mechanic. A new supervisor later effectively discontinued the accommodation by…

View full case summary

HR Insight

By Jodi Glitzenstein, Director of HR
Oriana House Inc.
Akron, Ohio

This can be done if the accommodation is no longer effective for the work being done or if the accommodation becomes a safety hazard, says Jodi Glitzenstein, a Director of Human Resources in Ohio. Rescinding an accommodation should not be done without first having an interactive discussion with the employee, however.

By Jackie Plunkett, PHR, SHRM-CP, HR Consultant
Clear HR Solutions
Allentown, Pennsylvania

An accommodation can be changed if it no longer meets the disability-related needs of the employee, says VP of HR Jackie Plunkett.

It can be changed or removed if it poses a hardship on the employer. Before rescinding any accommodation, see if there is an alternative that can be effective for the employee and the employer. You need a solid material change in circumstances to change or remove accommodations.

By Andrea Rose, HR Specialist
Alcoa Community FCU
Benton, Arkansas

Once an ADA accommodation has been given, it cannot be rescinded unless there is a material change in circumstances, says HR Specialist Andrea Rose. Examples include:

a change in job duties where the accommodation is no longer applicable
continuing the accommodation creates undue hardship for the employer, or
the employee requests to end the accommodation.

The best practice is to have thorough evidence and/or documentation for any such case and have the employee sign off on the document as well.

The Cost of Noncompliance

Here are some real-world examples of what other companies have paid in cases like this.

Employer pays $215K to settle EEOC’s ADA suit

Who was involved: Baptist Health South Florida, Inc., a healthcare organization, and a doctor who was fired after her disability accommodation was rescinded.

What happened: The doctor has epilepsy. The hospital accommodated the doctor's epilepsy by permitting her to limit her workday to eight hours a day. However, the employer reversed the decision to limit the doctor’s workday and then fired her.

Result: The employer paid a total of $215,000 to settle the dispute, which includes back pay and compensatory damages. It also agreed to:

Provide live training annually for management officials, HR personnel and recruiting personnel with an emphasis on disability discrimination and the exploration of modified work schedules as a reasonable accommodation
Post a notice explaining the lawsuit
Provide written reports describing all internal complaints of disability discrimination to the EEOC, and
Submit to EEOC monitoring for two years.

Info: Baptist Health South Florida to Pay $215K to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit, 2/21/14.

Key Takeaways

If you have extended an employee a job accommodation, proceed with extreme caution before rescinding it. Don’t rescind an accommodation unless it is not effective or is causing undue hardship.
The duty to accommodate under the ADA is an ongoing one. If you decide to rescind an accommodation, make sure you work with the employee or applicant to determine whether another effective reasonable accommodation is available.
Although the ADA contemplates an interactive process for determining a reasonable accommodation, you don’t have to provide an employee’s accommodation of choice. If an accommodation is effective, you’ve satisfied your legal obligation.
Reasonable accommodation can take many forms. It may include making facilities readily accessible to individuals with disabilities, job restructuring, job-sharing, reassignment to vacant positions, the acquisition or modification of equipment, provision of readers and interpreters, and the modification of employment tests.
Employers seeking to show that a proposed accommodation is not reasonable must be prepared to show that providing the accommodation would create an undue hardship. This means it would be unduly expensive in light of the employer’s resources, or that it would be otherwise unduly substantial or disruptive.
Employees and applicants who prove a violation of the ADA’s employment requirements can recover damages that can reach up to $300,000 for large employers. Courts may also order injunctive relief such as providing an accommodation or ending discriminatory practices.
Remember that the ADA always requires individualized examination of the employee’s disability and any proposed accommodations in order to determine whether the ADA was violated.
Employees asserting denial of reasonable accommodation under Title I of the ADA generally have 180 days to file an administrative charge of discrimination. This period begins on the date of the alleged discriminatory action. If a state or local law bans employment discrimination on the same basis, then the filing deadline may be extended to 300 days. If the investigating agency is unable to resolve the charge, it will typically issue the employee what is known as a right-to-sue letter to the employee. The employee then has 90 days to file a lawsuit.

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