ADA and ADD

System · December 2001

Is Attention Defecit Disorder protected by the ADA in general? Does it change if the person is taking medications to get it under control? And regarding reasonable accommodations, what is the employer to do if the employee does not provide any and says it is our responsiblity to look into it and determine what they are? I have a few other questions regarding this, but I'll start with these.

Down_the_Middle · December 2001

ADD may fall under ADA if it substantially limits one or more.............
Medication may stabilize the condition and make it ineligible for ADA protection. Regarding the accommodation issue: the employee is required to inform the employer that some form of accommodation is requested. Keep in mind this request does not have to be in writing, or formally mention ADA or express the term "reasonable accommodation", simply convey an interest. Once the employer receives this request, you must engage the employee in a conversation to determine who, what, how and when........... you can suggest those things that would be effective and the employee can then react to them. The employer clearly has the burden to provide accommodation, but certainly not required to do everything on behalf of the employee.

Theresa Gegen TX · December 2001

A reasonable accomodation is an interactive process. The employee cannot just say, I have ADD, therefore you must accomodate. The employee should be giving the employer (either directly or through his or her doctor) information about specific limitations caused by the ADD and suggestions for accomodation. The employer and employee should work together to develop the accomodation.

Whether the employee is disabled from the ADD depends on whether the ADD substantially limits the employee in performing a major life activity (like working) -- that's a harder test to apply then state, so many employers will give the employee the benefit of the doubt and attempt to accomodate the medical limits, even if they are unsure about whether the employee is truely disabled.

The US supreme court has said that if the employees condition is controlled by mitigating measures (like medicine), the employee may not be disabled. (The actual case involved pilots with glasses that corrected their vision to 20/20. The Court said because the glasses corrected the vision, the pilots weren't disabled --- even though without glasses they would be disabled). But you also need to keep in mind that side effects from the medication, if they substantially interfere with a major life activity, can make the employee disabled.

Good Luck!

Gar · December 2001

I'd like to know what the employee's occupation is and how long he/she has been on the payroll.

System · December 2001

If this problem is still going on, I'd try to solve it without getting bogged down in the ADA and a medical diagnosis. There are plenty of tools, classes, and software to help people who are disorganized or miss deadlines -- regardless of whether they have ADD, ADA, or any other acronym. His supervisor could help break down tasks into manageable parts and to set deadlines.

But if the employee doesn't want to help himself, nothing you do will solve the problem.

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers

ADA and ADD

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