If something is provided to all the employees, would it still be considered a reasonable accommodation?
An employee with a bad back isn't given a ergonomic chair but the other employees is provided with a ergonomic chair. The worker ask their employee for a chair because of their back problem. The employer ignores the request for many months. The employee ask for it once again; this time the employer request medical documentation.
The back issue is well diagnosed and doesn't require frequent medical visits. The employee (who doesn't have insurance because they pay their medical out of pocket) would have to rack up a decent amount of medical bills to see doctors to get the documentation and etc.
Questions:
1.)Is it a reasonable accommodation when it's already provided to other employees?
2.) Should the employer request medical documentation; especially when it something already being provided to other employees?
Answers (1)
Focus on your own situation. If you need an ergonomic chair get a doctor's note the next time you go to the walk-in clinic for a cold, flu, or to have a prescription filled, etc... Should be no big deal.
Persons who need reasonable accommodations for a medical condition do not have to regularly treat for such condition. All you need is for a physician who has either treated you in the past or currently examined you or reviewed your MRI results, etc.... to prescribe an ergonomic or other reasonable accommodation. Since you are not a doctor you may be surprised to learn that a physician prescribes or thinks of something else for you which is not what the other employees are using for their conditions.
Good luck. It's an interactive process. You ask for something, the employer responds, you reply to their response and the process goes back and forth until it is resolved or sometimes an employee who does not feel valued moves on to another employer.
posted by V Jonas Urba | Mar 12, 2016 6:59 PM [EST]
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