Under the ADA, employers don’t have to go along with an accommodation that is unreasonable—one that, in the terminology of the ADA, “causes an undue hardship.”
If you reject what you consider an unreasonable accommodation, be ready to explain—to the disabled employee and, possibly to a judge or jury—why you believe the accommodation would cause undue hardship.
To do so, gather supporting data in the following areas:
Nature and net cost of the accommodation needed
The cost is the actual cost to your company. Remember that specific federal tax credits and deductions are available for accommodations required by the ADA.
Also, sources of funding are available to help pay for some accommodations. If you qualify for a tax credit, deduction or partial funding for an accommodation, only the net cost to you should be considered.
Various financial factors
Your organization’s financial resources, the number of employees at your facility and the financial impact of the accommodation all can be considered. If you have only one facility, the cost and impact of the accommodation will be considered in relation to the effect on expenses and resources of that facility.
Type of operation
This includes the structure and functions of the work force and the geographic, administrative or fiscal relationship to the larger entity of the facility involved in making the accommodation.
For example, an independently owned fast-food franchise that receives no funding from the mother company can argue that it would be too expensive to provide an interpreter so a deaf applicant could work as a cashier. The parent company’s resources don’t have to be factored in.
Impact of the accommodation on the facility
This involves how the accommodation would affect other employees’ job performance and your ability to conduct business.
Let’s say someone with a visual impairment applied for a job as a nightclub server. The club maintains dim lighting to create an intimate setting and lowers its lights further during the floor show. If the applicant requested bright lighting as an accommodation so she could see to take orders, you could assert that this would be an undue hardship, since it would seriously affect the nature of the operation.
Online resource: Employers can find accommodations for many disabilities at the Job Accommodation Network site, which is maintained by the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy.
Advice: When confronted with an accommodation situation, use the askjan.org website and document all the steps you take. Courts will have a hard time ruling against an employer that evaluated every accommodation listed on the JAN site.
