What is disabled - Assignment Example

What is Disabled? The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is an act that prohibits any form of discrimination against people with disabilities either in employment, transportation, government activities, communications or public accommodation (Blanck 17). Additionally, ADA is entrusted with other roles like establishing requirements for telecommunications relay services while the department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is entrusted with the responsibilities of providing publications and other technical assistance on the basic requirement of the ADA (Blanck 32).

This study will help answer the supervisor’s questions;What exactly is considered disable?Under ADA, disable may refer to a physical or mental impairment that may have a major effect on the major life activities of an individual (Blanck 17). To this respect, it is worth noting that either those individuals with previous record of such impairment or those regarded as having such impairment are covered.How reasonable is reasonable for accommodationReasonable accommodation refers any changes made to either a job or any other thing that is done in order to allow an individual with any disability to be able to not only apply for a job, but also enjoy equal access to the various benefits that are available to other employees at the workplace (Blanck 19).

Should the Supervisor get someone else to run warehouse errands for Paul Trace?The fact that the employee has documentations from his doctor that he is medically obese and the fact that HR has qualified the employee as qualifying for reasonable accommodation under ADA implies that there is no need to get someone else to run warehouse errands for him since he is still able to perform the various essential functions of the job in question.In the case of Maryline, the fact that she has worked with the company for long and that she uses a wheelchair, then the employer’s obligations under title I requires that the employer provide access for an individual employee with a disability to perform the essential functions of his/her job which may include access to a building like in this case.

Where is the line when accommodating employees?When accommodating employees, it is not required that an employer makes its existing facilities accessible until a particular applicant or an employee needing such accommodation which will thus necessitate modifications that meets the work needs of the affected individual. In general however, it is expected that employers consider initiating changes that enables general accessibility though they are not required to provide access in places or facilities that need not to be used for benefits or activities related to employment.

Works CitedBlanck, Peter D. Employment, Disability, and the Americans with Disabilities Act: Issues in Law,Public Policy, and Research. Evanston, Ill: Northwestern University Press, 2000. Print