1st Circuit: Employee Entitled to ADA Accommodation Even if It is Technically Possible for Him to Work Without One

Interesting case out of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals this week regarding when an employee is entitled to an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The case is Bell v. O'Reilly Auto Enterprises, LLC dba O'Reilly Auto Parts, No. 18-2164 (1st Cir., Aug. 21, 2020).

In Bell, the court of appeals determined that the trial court was wrong to instruct a jury in a disability case that for an employee with a disability to succeed in an ADA failure-to-accommodate claim, he needed to demonstrate that he needed an accommodation to perform the essential functions of his job. Instead, the appeals court held that an employee who can, perhaps with some difficulty, perform the essential functions of a job without accommodation remains eligible to request and receive a reasonable accommodation.

The case was sent back to the trial court for a new trial with the correct instruction.

The Americans with Disabilities Act forbids discrimination based on a disability or serious health condition and also requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities unless the employer would suffer an undue hardship as a result. Once an employee has requested an accommodation, employers are should engage in an “interactive process” to identify possible accommodations. Engaging in the process is not technically required by federal law but a failure to do so can serve as evidence of disability discrimination.