Reasonable Accommodation Case Study
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal enforcement guidance program which essentially elucidates individual rights and responsibilities of employers and people with disabilities. This is legal guidance which mainly concerns the provision of a reasonable accommodation to qualified employees or applicants with disabilities. However, the EEOC puts forward employer’s legal compulsions meant to combat accommodation which may result in undue hardship of individuals with disabilities during work (Calvasina, 2019). Reasonable accommodation applies to people with disabilities whereby the employer is required to ask appropriate questions regarding the request for such and take conformist actions to accommodate this.
Regarding the case study, Adele requests for an ASL interpreter who will facilitate her nursing work. The company had already confirmed her qualification to the job; therefore, it would consider her request for accommodation only if the cost of hiring an ASL interpreter will not affect the operation of the company. The company made a brilliant interpretation of the offer where they found that accommodating interpreters for Adele will pose disproportionate costs to the company; hence, cause undue hardship to the company. Therefore, the allocated budget cannot absorb them at a consistent salary. Undue hardship describes accommodation which results in an expense to the company (Morgan, 2018). The company’s decision not to hire Adele conforms to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because hiring interpreters with unreliable salaries will make the accommodation unreasonable.
ADA defines a qualified person as one who can execute essential purposes of the occupation position he or she holds or needs, regardless of having or lacking reasonable accommodation (Loguidice, 2018). It suggests that people with disabilities must be provided facilities to help them undertake the job, and that job restructuring must be done to accommodate them. Provision of interpreters is reliable for the case of Adele because she is qualified for the job. The company has explored the financial resources and cost of accommodation of interpreters, whereby it found that hiring Adele will be an expense to the company.
Conclusively, failing to hire Adele was consistent with ADA dictations because all the suggested standards were considered appropriately.
References
Calvasina, G. E. (2019). EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION (EEOC) PERFORMANCE: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2018 FISCAL YEAR REPORT. ASBBS Proceedings, 26, 129-129. https://search.proquest.com/openview/f846ac51c09a40e252f1d7246164ce24/1?pq- origsite=gscholar&cbl=2030636
Morgan, J. N. (2018). One Not like the Other: An Examination of the Use of the Affirmative Action Analogy in Reasonable Accommodation Cases under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Cap. UL Rev., 46, 191.https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/capulr46&div=10&i d=&page=