Disability Accommodation

While the ADA has a conventional anti-discrimination set of remedies, the question of accommodation is uniquely central in ADA analysis. An employer may be liable under the ADA for "not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant or employee, unless such covered entity can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business of such covered entity. . . ." §12112(b)(5)(A). 

A failure to accommodate plays two roles in ADA analysis. First, in determining whether a worker is a qualified individual with a disability, courts must consider whether a worker can perform the essential functions of a job with or without accommodation. Second, an employer may be liable not only for disability but also for a failure to accommodate.

We will focus on two dimensions of the accommodation inquiry: what substantively will qualify as a reasonable accommodation and which procedures must be in place to arrive at such an accommodation.