Rights and Responsibilities of Employees and Employers Under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

Robert D. Lee
Paul S. Greenlaw

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DOI: 10.2190/3FB9-5YRK-B7NY-G0ED

Abstract

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 established a complex set of responsibilities and rights for both employees and employers. When cases are brought to court, the plaintiff, who invariably is the employee or would-be employee, has the primary responsibility or burden for proving the case, but a burden-shifting schema is applied by the courts. Employers and employees must work together in an interactive process in search of reasonable accommodations to the employees' disabilities. Employers have several rights that can be exercised in defending themselves against charges of discrimination, but to use these rights, employers carry the burden of proof. Although courts were generally consistent in applying responsibilities and rights in the cases under review, two areas of ambiguity were identified: "reasonable accommodation" and the connection between reasonable accommodation and undue hardship on the employer.

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