September 17, 2024
Understanding the WHY Behind the ADA
This is not the first time we have heard a manager or executive express frustration because an employee did not disclose a medical condition in an interview or when they accepted the job offer.
Sometimes the frustration is related to a new employee’s pregnancy, efforts to become pregnant, or a pregnancy-related medical condition. All of those are protected under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act as well as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. Sometimes it is related to an employee’s medical condition or disability for which the employee needs a reasonable accommodation.
Such was the case in the EEOC’s recent news story. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit against a Maryland-based employer, the company fired a scheduling assistant, who on her first day of work, requested software to be installed on her assigned computer which would accommodate her vision impairments. The company refused to accommodate the employee’s vision impairments and instead terminated her for not disclosing her disability during her interview.
The EEOC reminds us, “…employees need not disclose their disabilities prior to employment…” A driving purpose behind passage and enactment of the ADA was to remove employment barriers for individuals with disabilities. Your frustration with an employee who failed to disclose their condition in the interview is the very reason for the existence of the law. When individuals disclose their condition, they are often not hired because of the disclosure.
Tip. Training your management team members, including executives, about the rights of applicants and employees under the ADA and other federal, state, and local employment laws. You can even give them access to FiveL Company’s archived September webcast, “ADA Update” that highlights the basics and provides proactive practices and pitfalls to avoid.
