Enforcement Guidance: Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the Americans with Disabilities Act
2. May someone other than the individual with a disability request a reasonable accommodation on behalf of the individual?
Yes, a family member, friend, health professional, or other representative may request a reasonable accommodation on behalf of an individual with a disability.(21) Of course, the individual with a disability may refuse to accept an accommodation that is not needed.
Example A: An employee's spouse phones the employee's supervisor on Monday morning to inform her that the employee had a medical emergency due to multiple sclerosis, needed to be hospitalized, and thus requires time off. This discussion constitutes a request for reasonable accommodation.
Example B: An employee has been out of work for six months with a workers' compensation injury. The employee's doctor sends the employer a letter, stating that the employee is released to return to work, but with certain work restrictions. (Alternatively, the letter may state that the employee is released to return to a light duty position.) The letter constitutes a request for reasonable accommodation.
21. Cf. Beck v. Univ. of Wis. Bd. of Regents, 75 F.3d 1130, 5 AD Cas. (BNA) 304 (7th Cir. 1996); Schmidt v. Safeway Inc., 864 F. Supp. 991, 997, 3 AD Cas. (BNA) 1141, 1146 (D. Or. 1994). But see Miller v. Nat'l Casualty Co., 61 F.3d 627, 630, 4 AD Cas. (BNA) 1089, 1091 (8th Cir. 1995) (employer had no duty to investigate reasonable accommodation despite the fact that the employee's sister notified the employer that the employee "was mentally falling apart and the family was trying to get her into the hospital").
The employer should be receptive to any relevant information or requests it receives from a third party acting on the individual's behalf because the reasonable accommodation process presumes open communication in order to help the employer make an informed decision. See 29 C.F.R. §§ 1630.2(o), 1630.9 (1997); 29 C.F.R. pt. 1630 app. §§ 1630.2(o), 1630.9 (1997).
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