Under the ada who is a qualified individual with a disability

On December 9, , the U. Sheila Holmes worked for General Dynamics as a shelter fabricator from to As part of her job, she had to use heavy equipment and machinery on the production floor. In , General Dynamics began to require all employees working on the production floor to wear steel-toed or similar safety shoes.

Creating Accessible Digital Documents. Understanding Transportation Barriers. Section — A Celebration of Twenty Years. Inclusive Exhibition Design. Accessible Technology. The employer may ask a job applicant whether he or she can perform particular job functions.

If the applicant has a disability known to the employer, the employer may ask how he or she can perform job functions that the employer considers difficult or impossible to perform because of the disability, and whether an accommodation would be needed.

A job offer may be conditioned on the results of a medical examination, provided that the examination is required for all entering employees in the same job category regardless of disability, and that information obtained is handled according to confidentiality requirements specified in the Act. After an employee enters on duty, all medical examinations and inquiries must be job related and necessary for the conduct of the employer's business.

These provisions of the law are intended to prevent the employer from basing hiring and employment decisions on unfounded assumptions about the effects of a disability. Does the ADA take safety issues into account? The ADA expressly permits employers to establish qualification standards that will exclude individuals who pose a direct threat -- i. However, an employer may not simply assume that a threat exists; the employer must establish through objective, medically supportable methods that there is genuine risk that substantial harm could occur in the workplace.

By requiring employers to make individualized judgments based on reliable medical or other objective evidence rather than on generalizations, ignorance, fear, patronizing attitudes, or stereotypes, the ADA recognizes the need to balance the interests of people with disabilities against the legitimate interests of employers in maintaining a safe workplace.

Can an employer refuse to hire an applicant or fire a current employee who is illegally using drugs? Individuals who currently engage in the illegal use of drugs are specifically excluded from the definition of a "qualified individual with a disability" protected by the ADA when an action is taken on the basis of their drug use.

Is testing for illegal drugs permissible under the ADA? A test for illegal drugs is not considered a medical examination under the ADA ; therefore, employers may conduct such testing of applicants or employees and make employment decisions based on the results. The ADA does not encourage, prohibit, or authorize drug tests. How does the ADA recognize public health concerns? No provision in the ADA is intended to supplant the role of public health authorities in protecting the community from legitimate health threats.

The ADA recognizes the need to strike a balance between the right of a disabled person to be free from discrimination based on unfounded fear and the right of the public to be protected. What is discrimination based on "relationship or association? The ADA prohibits discrimination based on relationship or association in order to protect individuals from actions based on unfounded assumptions that their relationship to a person with a disability would affect their job performance, and from actions caused by bias or misinformation concerning certain disabilities.

For example, this provision would protect a person with a disabled spouse from being denied employment because of an employer's unfounded assumption that the applicant would use excessive leave to care for the spouse. It also would protect an individual who does volunteer work for people with AIDS from a discriminatory employment action motivated by that relationship or association. Will the ADA increase litigation burdens on employers? Some litigation is inevitable.

Qualified individual with a disability Primary tabs Definition A term of art used as follows by the Americans with Disabilities Act : 1 Employment: Definition : "[A]n individual who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that such individual holds or desires. Illustrative caselaw See, e. See also Americans with Disabilities Act: 42 U.