CT Bar Accommodations 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the ADA, an employer must provide a reasonable accommodation to a qualified employee with a disability unless doing so would cause:
- Undue hardship to the employer (Correct answer)
- Any disruption to co-workers
- A change in job duties
- Increased health insurance costs
Correct answer: Undue hardship to the employer
The ADA requires reasonable accommodations unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer, considering factors like cost and operational impact.
Question 2: A hotel guest with a mobility disability requests a ground-floor room under the ADA. The hotel has no accessible rooms available. What is the hotel's best course of action?
- Offer a comparable accessible room at another nearby hotel at no extra cost (Correct answer)
- Provide a refund and turn away the guest
- Charge an upgrade fee for an accessible room
- Place the guest on a waiting list only
Correct answer: Offer a comparable accessible room at another nearby hotel at no extra cost
Public accommodations must make reasonable modifications; when no accessible room is available, arranging comparable accommodations nearby at no extra cost satisfies the ADA obligation.
Question 3: Which Connecticut statute mirrors and extends ADA protections for individuals with disabilities in places of public accommodation?
- Connecticut General Statutes § 46a-64 (Correct answer)
- Connecticut General Statutes § 31-51q
- Connecticut General Statutes § 17b-112
- Connecticut General Statutes § 38a-816
Correct answer: Connecticut General Statutes § 46a-64
C.G.S. § 46a-64 prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in places of public accommodation and in many respects mirrors and exceeds ADA standards.
Question 4: An employee with PTSD requests permission to work from home two days per week as an accommodation. The employer denies the request without engaging in any discussion. This likely violates:
- The interactive process requirement under the ADA (Correct answer)
- OSHA workplace safety regulations
- FMLA leave entitlements
- Title VII disparate impact doctrine
Correct answer: The interactive process requirement under the ADA
The ADA requires employers and employees to engage in an interactive process to identify effective reasonable accommodations before denying a request.
Question 5: Under the Fair Housing Act, a landlord must allow a tenant with a disability to make reasonable modifications to the premises if:
- The tenant agrees to restore the premises to their original condition upon vacating (Correct answer)
- The landlord approves the specific contractor
- The modification is already mandated by local building code
- The modification increases property value
Correct answer: The tenant agrees to restore the premises to their original condition upon vacating
Under the FHA, private landlords may require the tenant to agree to restore the premises upon vacating as a condition of permitting reasonable modifications.
Question 6: A law school applicant with dyslexia requests extended time on the LSAT. The testing agency denies the request. Under the ADA, the applicant:
- May sue the testing agency under Title III as a public accommodation (Correct answer)
- Has no recourse because the LSAT is privately administered
- Must first exhaust EEOC remedies
- May only file a complaint with the Department of Education
Correct answer: May sue the testing agency under Title III as a public accommodation
Testing entities are covered by ADA Title III as public accommodations and must provide modifications including extended time to individuals with documented disabilities.
Question 7: An employee requests a leave of absence as a reasonable accommodation. Under the ADA, courts generally hold that:
- A definite, finite leave may be a reasonable accommodation even if longer than FMLA provides (Correct answer)
- Indefinite leave is always a reasonable accommodation
- Any leave beyond 12 weeks is per se an undue hardship
- Leave can never substitute for other types of accommodation
Correct answer: A definite, finite leave may be a reasonable accommodation even if longer than FMLA provides
Courts recognize that a definite period of leave can be a reasonable accommodation, though indefinite or open-ended leave typically is not required.
CT Bar Accommodations 2
Under the ADA, an employer must provide a reasonable accommodation to a qualified employee with a disability unless doing so would cause: