Americans With Disabilities Act Case Study

Americans With Disabilities Act Case Study

(1) If such a situation occurred in your workplace and you were the Director of Human Resources would you deem Karina disabled under the ADA? If so, what reasonable accommodations would you offer to her?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. An individual with a disability is reported as a person who:

(1) Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;

(2) Has a record of such an impairment; or (3) Is regarded as having such an impairment. ( )

An employee or applicant who is qualified with a disability is an individual who"…with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job in question." ( ) Reasonable accommodations are reported to include but not be limited to the following:

(1) Making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities.

(2) Job restructuring, modifying work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position;

(3) Acquiring or modifying equipment or devices, adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or policies, and providing qualified readers or interpreters.

Therefore, it is the opinion of this writer that the employee, Karina, has a disabling condition that results in her inability to perform her work requirements as they are stated. However, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states that reasonable accommodations must be made for an employee so as to enable them to perform their work duties. The most reasonable accommodations for Karina would be to allow her to wear a long skirt that reaches her ankles, which would enable her to avoid wearing hose. Additionally, Karina should be allowed to wear flat-heeled shoes rather than high heels.

(2) From an ADA policy standpoint what would your ideal be in terms of an employer ADA policy? And what would your ideal be as to what the employee, Karina, should be told by the HR Department as pertains to her rights and obligations pursuant to the ADA?