A Chair is STILL a Reasonable Accommodation in Business and at Work – 3rd Time’s a Charm?

“It’s déjà vu all over again.” What am I missing? More specifically, what are these employers missing? A chair as a reasonable accommodation is both reasonable and low- / no-cost. However, once, again, the EEOC announced today that another hotel has paid to settle an EEOC lawsuit ($42,000) because they wouldn’t accommodate a disabled front-desk employee by letting the employee do their job by sitting on a stool.

Per today’s EEOC press release:

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a guest services agent for the hotel submitted medical support for, and requested use of a chair or stool as an accommodation for the employee’s disability, which made standing for prolonged periods of time difficult.

Library Hotel denied the request based on its policy that guest services agents must stand at all times, and instead offered insufficient and undesirable alternative accommodations. The employee attempted to continue to work without the accommodation, but was forced to resign in light of a continuing deterioration of the employee’s physical health.

First of all: requiring employees to stand at all times is an ADA slippery slope potentially ripe for an enterprising employee plaintiff’s attorney’s cash flow. All times? No breaks? Ouch.

Here are 2 earlier blog posts (2 entirely different employers) https://debbest.com/2019/06/a-chair-is-a-reasonable-ada-accommodation-in-business-and-at-work/ on the same topic:

Avoid an EEOC ADA Lawsuit by Giving an Amputee a Chair in Business and at Work

and

A Chair is a Reasonable ADA Accommodation in Business and at Work

Pretty expensive déjà vu, I'd say.  A piece of free advice: pursue the (free) reasonable accommodation of a chair or stool and save a chunk of bottom-line change, in business and at work.