An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 9 – Interactive Process: Employees and Students

a. Reasonable Accommodation For Mental Disabilities In the mental disability context, one court interpreted the above regulations to require the employer and employee to make reasonable good faith efforts to help each other determine what specific accommodations were necessary. 1506 The same court considered a claim brought by a secretary suffering from osteoarthritis and severe depression who alleged that her university employer failed to provide her with a reasonable accommodation. 1507 The court found that, based on the information it was given, the university had responded in good faith to the secretary’s anxiety and depression. Upon the secretary’s return from her first leave, the university gave her a less stressful position in which she was permitted to merely practice a word processing program for a few months. After she returned from a third leave, the university assigned her to work with only one supervisor and reduced her workload to substantially less than other secretaries. She was no longer assigned rush projects and only had to work on one project at a time. When the secretary complained that her work load was too low, the university found additional duties for her by assigning her to work at a switchboard for extended periods. In contrast to the university’s efforts to engage in the interactive process and provide accommodations, the secretary failed to provide the university with a signed release that would have permitted the university to access her medical information or the information the university requested and needed in order to determine how to accommodate her disability. The court concluded that the information was the type of information only the secretary could provide. Since she failed to do so, the court determined the secretary was responsible for the breakdown in the interactive process and dismissed her claim. In a subsequent case, the court held that a school district failed to participate in the interactive process in good faith and the court cautioned employers that their role in the process of finding a reasonable accommodation may be greater when dealing with mentally ill individuals than individuals with other disabilities. 1508 In that case, a janitor suffering from anxiety attacks, bipolar disorder, and paranoid schizophrenia sued the school district that dismissed him rather than transfer him to a school with a less stressful environment. The employee’s psychiatrist had written a letter to the school district stating that it would be in the janitor’s best interest to work at a school less stressful than the high school to which he was assigned. The school district, however, unilaterally determined that the janitor was wrong in thinking that the position at the high school was any more stressful than any other position. The court stated that the burden on an employer to initiate and participate in the interactive process can be greater when mentally ill individuals request accommodations. The court observed that mentally ill individuals may be less capable of articulating either the need for an accommodation or what specific accommodation would be effective. The court noted that an employer may need to help mentally ill individuals determine what specific accommodations are necessary. The EEOC has issued a Q & A formatted document entitled “Depression, PTSD, & Other Mental Health Conditions in the Workplace: Your Legal Rights.” While the document is geared toward employees, it contains useful information for employers as well. The document answers questions about reasonable accommodations, employer access to medical information, confidentiality, and the role of the EEOC. 1509

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