Law360 published an article by John Alan Doran about a recent opinion rendered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that could dramatically alter the scope of an employer’s duty to accommodate. Doran analyzes the court case Beasley v. O’Reilly Auto Parts in which a deaf individual who communicates primarily through American Sign Language (ASL) brought a lawsuit against his former employer claiming the employer failed to provide reasonable accommodation, thus violating the ADA.

Below is an excerpt from the article.

The Eleventh Circuit reversed, finding genuine questions of material fact with respect to whether some of Beasley’s requested accommodations related to the essential functions of his job and whether O’Reilly’s failure to accommodate led to an adverse employment action.

The Eleventh Circuit first addressed the adverse employment action holding. The court summarily held that a failure to accommodate is only actionable when that failure “negatively impacts the employee’s hiring, advancement, discharge, compensation, training, and other terms and conditions of employment.”

The full article can be found HERE. (Subscription required.)