Questions and Answers about Deafness and Hearing Impairments in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act

KEEPING MEDICAL INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL

With limited exceptions, an employer must keep confidential any medical information it learns about an applicant or employee. Under the following circumstances, however, an employer may disclose that an employee has a hearing impairment:

• to supervisors and managers, if necessary to provide a reasonable accommodation or meet an employee's work restrictions;

• to first aid and safety personnel if an employee may need emergency treatment or require some other assistance at work;

• to individuals investigating compliance with the ADA and similar state and local laws; and

• where needed for workers' compensation or insurance purposes (for example, to process a claim).

8. May an employer tell employees who ask why their co-worker is allowed to do something that generally is not permitted (such as working at home or working a modified schedule) that she is receiving a reasonable accommodation?

No. Telling coworkers that an employee is receiving a reasonable accommodation amounts to a disclosure that the employee has a disability. Rather than disclosing that the employee is receiving a reasonable accommodation, the employer should focus on the importance of maintaining the privacy of all employees and emphasize that its policy is to refrain from discussing the work situation of any employee with co-workers. Employers may be able to avoid many of these kinds of questions by training all employees on the requirements of equal employment laws, including the ADA.

Additionally, an employer will benefit from providing information about reasonable accommodation to all of its employees. This can be done in a number of ways, such as through written reasonable accommodation procedures, employee handbooks, staff meetings, and periodic training. This kind of proactive approach may lead to fewer questions from employees who misperceive co-worker accommodations as "special treatment."

Example 6: A large store does not provide its sales employees with smartphones. However, the employer does provide a deaf employee with one, as a reasonable accommodation, so that he can receive text messages instead of the numerous communications made over the public address system that he cannot hear, such as requests for sales representatives to report to different parts of the store to assist customers.  If other employees ask why he has a smartphone and they do not, the employer may not divulge any information about the impairment, including the fact that the smartphone is a reasonable accommodation.