Disabeled or no?
njjel
1,235 Posts
We have an employee who is morbidly obese and walks with a walker due to a recent injury off the job. She is perceived by everyone at work as "disabeled" however she has never asked for an accommodation. (However, we always make sure she can be accommodated at meetings, etc.) I believe if one is perceived as disabeled, then then are. Is there anything we need to do as pertains to regulations for ADA compliance?
Comments
As far as accomodation, if the employee can do the essential functions of her job without an accomodation, everything is ok. If the employee is having difficulty doing her job and blames that difficulty on her medical condition, then I would worry about accomodation.
It seems to me like the company is doing the right thing as far as making sure that she is comfortable at meetings, etc. However, the managers and supervisors probably need some training about the ADA if they are just assuming that she is disabled.
If the company percieves an employee as disabled, then the employee is protected from discrimination under the ADA. However, just because an employer perceives the employee as disabled doesn't make them disabled. For example, if a company wrongfully perceived an employee as disabled and fired the employee because of that perception, the employee would be protected by the ADA. However, if a company wrongfully perceived an employee as disabled, but refused to give that employee an accomondation, and the employee was not in fact disabled, the company would not be liable for the refusal to give the accomodation (merely perceiving the employee as disabled does not make them disabled and entitled to an accomodation, but it does give them protection against discrimination).
Good Luck!