Employees with reasonable accommodation needs often face a common problem: their requested accommodations are not adequately supported by their medical documentation, leading agencies to offer alternative accommodations that do not effectively meet their needs. The Disability Laws only require that employers meet the minimum needs of the employee. They do not necessarily have to provide … Read more
I have always counseled federal employees to “trust but verify” when it comes to their agency’s EEO Office and any advice they get from these employees. Largely this is because the agency EEO office offers a lot of unqualified advice that is frequently wrong or glosses over important details that are important for my clients … Read more
When a federal employee requests a reasonable accommodation for a disability, the Agency often has an obligation under the Rehabilitation Act to engage in a good-faith interactive process to identify an effective solution. However, all too often, Agencies attempt to bypass this crucial step by simply offering a pre-determined, “off-the-shelf” accommodation without fully considering the … Read more
Every day, federal employees across the country (and the world) strive to balance their work responsibilities with their personal health conditions. When health issues affect one’s ability to work in a traditional office environment, reasonable accommodations can make all the difference. However, what options does an employee have when these accommodations are not provided, and … Read more
The Agency DRAD (Disability Reasonable Accommodation Division) and other RACs (Reasonable Accommodation Coordinators or Committees) for federal employees are responsible for ensuring that employees with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodations to perform their job duties. Their job is generally, at least on paper, to work with employees and their supervisors to identify what accommodations … Read more
The road to unlawful disability discrimination is paved with “good intentions.” Many federal agency lawyers (and therefore everyone else listening to them) mistakenly believe that discrimination requires in every case proof of discriminatory intent. That means if management denies any discriminatory intent, there is no discrimination (absent other evidence). That also means that if you … Read more
Most federal agencies have difficulty dealing with reasonable accommodations because, well, they just don’t understand it. Many managers, HR, and EEO personnel are familiar with the concept of discrimination—at least insofar as they can avoid a charge of discrimination by having (and documenting) a “legitimate, non-discriminatory reason” for their actions. But this does not apply … Read more
I speak with many federal employees whose management has recently added “essential functions” to their job descriptions solely to avoid providing reasonable accommodations. This can amount to discrimination if the Agency denies a reasonable accommodation because of a “fake” essential function. Frequently these arise in telework situations. I call them fake here because they don’t … Read more
Too often federal employees call me with issues about getting what are otherwise very reasonable disability accommodations from their supervisors. The problem is that federal agency managers are normally trained to treat all employees the same. That works for many situations, but not for reasonable accommodations. Under the ADA, treating everyone the same can actually … Read more
A motion for summary judgment, or a “motion for decision without a hearing,” and how to respond, is probably the most important event in any litigation. It is where one side presents all of the facts that it can to convince the judge that no hearing or trial is required. For federal employees who are pursuing their EEO claims, this can be confusing. It is not like other motions. It is centrally important to how the EEO process functions.
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Here’s what you should know: