What Questions Can Employers Ask About Disabilities?
The ADA contains strict rules concerning how, if, and when employers can inquire about employee disabilities. These rules say:
- The employer cannot ask about the disability if the answer will be included in the hiring decision.
- The employer cannot directly ask the individual if they have a disability. The employer can ask if the individual can perform the job tasks adequately. The employer can also ask if the individual needs accommodations.
When Dalton asked Sarah if she needed accommodations, he justified his actions. However, Dalton did not include these answers, or Sarah’s disability, in the hiring process. Sarah also informed Dalton of her disability before he asked her about her arthritis.
It also would have been legal and acceptable for Dalton to ask if Sarah’s arthritis might keep her from baking cakes. Dalton did not see the need for this, however.
When Employees Choose to Disclose Disabilities
Sarah disclosed that she had arthritis with Dalton during the hiring process. Why did she do this? Sarah wants her employer to support her, and she also wants to perform her job at a high level.
Sarah’s Friend Henry and his Poor Vision
Many employees with disabilities find that Sarah’s strategy works well. For example, another employee at Contemporary Cakes, Henry, has very poor eyesight. Like Sarah, Henry chose to disclose this fact and the fact that he wears special glasses.
Telling an employer about a disability can lead to helpful accommodations. For example, Henry received special prescription goggles for the kitchen and permission to print out the recipes that most bakers at Contemporary keep pinned to the wall.
Henry and Sarah need to remember that Contemporary Cakes cannot retaliate or discriminate against them based on their respective disabilities. If Henry and Sarah have any questions about the ADA or problems with their employer, they should contact a California disability discrimination attorney.
Do Employees Need to Provide Proof of Disability?
In typical situations, workers do not need to supply proof of their disabilities to employers. When a worker has a clear disability, most companies accommodate the worker’s needs without documentation.
However, there are situations where employees request accommodations, but the employer is skeptical of their needs. Sometimes, employers do not believe that workers deserve specific accommodations. In this case, usually, the situation is rectified when the employee presents their official documentation.
Penelope’s Herniated Disc
In our examples of Sarah and Henry, the bakery did not request documentation. However, a different situation occurred last year at Contemporary Cakes, with different ramifications. An employee named Penelope suddenly asked for a special $500 baking chair. Penelope had a history of arriving late to work and had never claimed any physical ailments. However, Penelope asked Dalton, her manager, for accommodations for a herniated disc in her back.
Dalton was skeptical of Penelope’s claims, and his boss, Marge, shared his concerns. Marge told Dalton to ask Penelope for certification of her injury or a note from her doctor. Penelope abandoned her claim and quit her job at Contemporary Cakes a week later. It turned out that Penelope did not enjoy her job and just wanted the $500 chair.
Situations like this are rare, but employees sometimes attempt to take advantage of the ADA and their employers. Sarah and Henry have done the right thing, but Penelope was wrong.
When Showing Proof Makes Sense for Employees
Sometimes, workers have disabilities that do not come with physical signs or evidence. For example, if an employee suffers from ADHD, anxiety, or PTSD, these afflictions may not appear obvious in person. In cases like this, employees should show proof to employers.
Sarah’s arthritis, for example, has no clear signs, which was one of the reasons she decided to disclose her ailment to Contemporary Cakes.
When companies request that employees provide medical documentation, workers are not obligated to provide information beyond what is necessary to use as proof. For example, Sarah did not tell Dalton all the details about her arthritis, such as the fact that it originated in college when she was a heavy metal drummer. All Sarah had to do was tell Dalton about her arthritis. If needed, she could also show him a simple doctor’s note.
Employer Retaliation
Employers cannot retaliate against workers when asked for disability accommodations. Employers also cannot legally deny reasonable accommodations for obvious or proven disabilities.
Retaliation involves cruel or offensive jokes, discriminatory actions, harassment, wrongful termination, and demotion. In addition, it is against the law for companies to refuse to hire disabled individuals if that person can achieve the position’s duties with or without sensible accommodation.
If Dalton refused either Sarah or Henry accommodations or refused to hire them, his actions would violate the ADA. Likewise, if Dalton or Marge discriminated against or harassed Sarah and Henry, it would violate the ADA.
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