An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 9 – Interactive Process: Employees and Students

undue hardship. A job coach is a professional who assists individuals with severe disabilities with job placement and job training. Reasonable accommodation also may include allowing a job coach paid by a public or private social service agency to accompany a disabled employee at the job site. xiii. Leaves Of Absence Relying on federal case law, California courts have indicated that under FEHA, a leave of absence may properly fall under the definition of reasonable accommodation especially where it would be successful in rehabilitating an employee well enough to the extent that he or she can return to work. 1531 The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a limited, finite leave of absence is a reasonable accommodation under the ADA as long as it provides the employee sufficient time to recover to be able to return to work and perform his or her work duties. 1532 The First Circuit Court of Appeals, on the other hand, has held that the ADA can require an employer to grant leave that is longer than ordinary internal policy would permit if it is necessary to adequately rehabilitate the disabled employee. 1533 xiv. Reasonable Accommodation Does Not Entail Lowering Or Significantly Altering Standards Or Requirements In explaining what reasonable accommodation involves, courts have held that it does not entail lowering standards or requirements in connection with qualifying for a position. The school has the right to set its minimum standards and it is not the court’s job to establish minimum standards for employees. 1534 The only limitation is that the standards must be job-related and consistent with business necessity. The California Supreme Court has held that employers are not required to allow employees, as a reasonable accommodation, to use medical marijuana off-duty to treat a medical condition. 1535 In that case, an employee had a prescription to use marijuana to treat his back pain pursuant to the California Compassionate Use Act, and he informed his employer of that fact and of his use of medical marijuana. After he tested positive for marijuana, the employer dismissed him and the employee sued, arguing that he should have been allowed to use medical marijuana (off duty) as a reasonable accommodation. The court upheld the termination because legislation enacted after the Compassionate Use Act provides that employers are not required to accommodate marijuana use, and because marijuana use for medical reasons is still illegal under federal law. xv. Service Dogs Private schools generally must accommodate a disabled employee’s request to use a service dog at school if the dog has been trained to perform a specific job or task related to the employee’s disability. 1536 Under the ADA, a service animal is defined as a dog that has been individually trained to do work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. 1537 Other species of animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals. 1538 The work or task(s) performed by the dog must be directly related to the employee’s disability. 1539 The dog must be trained to take a specific action when needed to assist the employee with a disability. 1540 The crime deterrent effects of an animal’s presence and the provision of emotional support, well- being, comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of the

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