The Disability History Mystery: Assessing The Employer's Reasonable Accommodation Obligation in "Record of Disability" Cases

Abstract

Despite the breadth of the ADA's definitional provisions, the interplay between the Act's protection of individuals with a record of a substantially limiting impairment (commonly known as a "record of disability") and the employer's duty to accommodate a disabled individual's limitations is a complex and unsettled question. The text of the ADA does not definitively resolve the issue, and there is as yet relatively little case law addressing it (or, for that matter, any other aspect of the ADA's record of disability provision). Moreover, those few courts that have discussed whether an employer is obligated to accommodate an individual with a record of disability are not in agreement as to how that question should be resolved. 

This article explores the issue, which has been described as a controversial question "worthy of study." The article begins with a brief overview of the ADA's record of disability provision. The article then discusses the competing views of whether an employer is obligated to accommodate the limitations of an individual with a record of disability. The article ultimately concludes that the question of whether such an individual is entitled to an accommodation should be determined on an individualized, case-by-case basis.