reasonable accomodation for obesity

Laura_L

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-26-01 AT 10:25AM (CST)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-26-01 AT 07:57 AM (CST)[/font]

Our employees are required to climb ladders daily which are safety rated up to 300 pounds.

For those employees who exceed the 300 pound limit, there are ladders that are safety rated up to 500 pounds but there is a significant cost associated with this accomodation as we issue three ladders per associate and we have nearly 1,000 associates. There are other costs associated with purchasing non-standard uniforms, safety belts, etc. Is there a dollar amount associated with reasonable accomodation under ADA?

The position in question involves telecomm and cable installation and often requires work in attics, pole work, roof work, etc. Aside from the expense of outfitting these individuals with non-standard equipment, we are concerned about the safety issues associated with larger individuals performing this type of work.

Down_the_Middle

There is no dollar amount designated by ADA------only that it is not necessary if it creates undue hardship for the employer. Undue hardship is a very difficult standard to prove. It is individualized to each employer. Spending $5000 may be a severe hardship for a small employer, but to Microsoft?????

I have hard time believing an addt'l $200 for a few ladders will constitute undue hardship, unless you'll be purchasing 1,000 of them.

Hatchetman

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-25-01 AT 05:37PM (CST)[/font][p]I think your problem at this point, isn't so much buying new ladders that can carry more weight -- I suppose its for heavier employees, not more equipment -- but rather whether your current weight limit for your ladder-climbing employees is a valid, bona fide occupational qualification -- is it job related and based upon "business necessity"? A validated BFOQ would be a good predictor of success on the job.

Just being fat or overweight is not a disability under ADA. Whether it is under any particular state law similar to ADA is another question. "Morbid obesity" is the weight condition that creates a disability under ADA.

But remember, if a physical requirement or condition is a BFOQ, and is validated, even if it discriminates against ADA protected applicants and employees, it is proper. Courts generally won't question a validated BFOQ because they will defer to the employer to set the standards it feels it needs. Is the "300-pound" ladder generally used in your company's industry?

So before going to buy new ladders, make sure that you really need to. Go over your weight requirements and other physical requirements and ensure that they are job related and founded on business necessity and that hopefully, they have been validated.

Of course, if there are safety reasons to buy new ladders, that's a different issue.

WOCO Frank

>Just being fat or overweight is not a disability under ADA.

True, but depending on the mindset of the employer and the coworkers, it can land the employee in that wonderworld called "regarded as disabled", where you aren't actually disabled but you get all the protections of ADA because people think you are. This is a tough one to fight, because it hinges on perceptions and biases that can't be cleared away with a doctor's release.

System

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-26-01 AT 10:22AM (CST)[/font][p]I would agree that IF the employer is actually TREATING or REGARDING the emplyee as disabled just because he or she is fat, then that is what covered under the third prong of ADA criteria for being "disabled." Having a "mindset" alone, especially just by co-workers -- would not be sufficient. There'd have to be overt acts by the employer: e.g., re-assigning to less strenuous type work on the basis the employee is overweight; supervisor making comments about employee needing a change in working conditions because he or she is overweight; etc. In that case, the employer deserves to pay out big bucks for accommodaitons for someone who is not disabled, but the employer has actually treated them as if he or she is.

bsa

What does your job description for this position say about the amount of weight to be lifted and carried. I would think that a 500# rated ladder would weigh significantly more than a 300# rated ladder.