3 - People with Disabilities in the Workplace

Summary

Chapter 3 starts with a history of disability discrimination in the workplace and beyond, leading up to the current protections we now have—most notably, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The chapter then turns to the difficulty of defining and conceptualizing disability, both legally and normatively. Courts, legislatures, scholars, and society in general do not agree on how broadly or narrowly to define disability. This chapter then discusses one of the primary reasons courts and employers have leaned toward a narrow definition of disability—the reasonable accommodation mandate in the ADA. I will first provide a conceptual analysis and defense of the accommodation obligation before turning to the law surrounding the reasonable accommodation provision of the ADA, including the employer’s defense to the accommodation mandate—the undue hardship provision.