Disability Discrimination - Essay Example

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a person is seen as disabled if they have a mental or physical impairment that significantly limits their major life activities (Illinois Legal Aid, 2012).The law compels the need for employers to make available “reasonable accommodation to employees with disabilities, not unless their accommodation would cause considerable problems and, or cost to the employer (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, n.d.). In respect to the law, the department might take some steps to accommodate the firefighter.

The steps include, and not limited to reallocating tasks to other employees, adjusting working schedules, providing intervallic breaks during work time, and providing medical assistance.The department can be permitted to conduct employee medical examinations to determine if employees can perform vital job functions without injuries. Further, an employee’s work contract can be suspended or terminated in cases that employees are unable to perform duties as required (Illinois Legal Aid, 2012).

For example, employers may consider safety and health issues as substantial harm to the employee. In this case, the firefighter’s weight gain exposes him to cardiovascular diseases that are leading causes among firefighters (Fahs et al., 2009).