December 16, 2025
ADA & Reasonable Accommodation: Required, Preferred, Who Decides & How?
This is the second lawsuit I have seen this year that raises the question of who makes the determination and how as to whether an employee’s request for a reasonable accommodation is medically necessary and/or required so the employee can perform the essential functions of the job under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In this case, the plaintiff-applicant requested to have her service dog with her at work. The dog was trained to warn her before her blood sugar levels fell too low. The lawsuit alleges the would-be employer denied her request because it felt she did not need a reasonable accommodation or that particular accommodation. The would-be employer suggested she could simply wear or use a glucose monitor.
The argument seems to hinge on whether her request to use a service animal was her preferred accommodation, or the medically necessary accommodation. The ADA is clear that where two or more reasonable accommodations can be provided, the employer is not required to provide the individual’s preferred accommodation. While the issues in these two cases are different, they raise similar questions. Since the recent case was just filed this month, we may not have an answer for quite some time.
In the interim, if you are risk adverse, consider both cases and their allegations. If an individual with a disability requests a reasonable accommodation that you think is unnecessary, pause. Seek a medical opinion. If you disagree with the first medical opinion, you might seek a second – along with advice from your company’s employment counsel – before you decline the request.
