To prevail on a disability claim under the ADA claim, plaintiff is required to establish (1) that she was disabled under the ADA; (2) that she was a qualified individual with a disability; and (3) that she was discriminated against by her employer because of that disability. A qualified individual with a disability is defined as an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires. The ADA defines discrimination to include an employer’s failure to make a reasonable accommodation. The term “reasonable accommodation” may include acquisition or modification of equipment or devices and other similar accommodations for individuals with disabilities. See 42 U.S.C. § 12111(9).
That all may sound straightforward, but try applying these principles to a real life situation, which is where things get hard: Whether an accommodation is reasonable depends on the individual circumstances of each case, and requires a fact-specific, individualized analysis of the disabled individual’s circumstances and the [potential] accommodations.
The employer cannot avoid doing the analysis above by ignoring the situation: Once an employer becomes aware of the need for accommodation, that employer has a mandatory obligation under the ADA to engage in an interactive process with the employee to identify and implement appropriate reasonable accommodations that will enable the employee to perform her job duties.