CVE ADA & Legal Compliance 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client with a learning disability requests extended time on a vocational evaluation battery. Under ADA principles, this accommodation is best justified because:
- It changes the standard of measurement to be more lenient
- It removes a barrier that prevents accurate assessment of the client's actual abilities (Correct answer)
- It is required only when the client provides a doctor's note
- It guarantees the client will achieve higher scores
Correct answer: It removes a barrier that prevents accurate assessment of the client's actual abilities
Testing accommodations remove disability-related barriers so that evaluations measure the construct of interest rather than the impact of the disability.
Question 2: Which law specifically prohibits genetic information discrimination in employment, relevant to vocational evaluators working with clients who have hereditary conditions?
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) (Correct answer)
- The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
- The Rehabilitation Act, Section 501
Correct answer: The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
GINA prohibits employers from using genetic information in hiring, firing, pay, or other employment decisions.
Question 3: When a vocational evaluator documents that a client has a 'record of impairment,' this addresses which prong of the ADA's three-part definition of disability?
- First prong – actual physical or mental impairment
- Second prong – history of or being misclassified as having an impairment (Correct answer)
- Third prong – being regarded as having an impairment
- Fourth prong – temporary disability classification
Correct answer: Second prong – history of or being misclassified as having an impairment
The second prong protects individuals who have a history of a disability, such as a recovered cancer survivor, even if they are no longer impaired.
Question 4: An employer refuses to hire a job applicant because they believe the applicant 'looks disabled' but the applicant has no actual impairment. The applicant's ADA claim would most likely rely on:
- The actual disability prong
- The record of impairment prong
- The 'regarded as' prong (Correct answer)
- The temporary disability provision
Correct answer: The 'regarded as' prong
The 'regarded as' prong protects individuals who are perceived to have a disability even if they do not have an actual impairment.
Question 5: Under the ADA, 'major life activities' include which of the following?
- Only physical activities such as walking and lifting
- Activities such as caring for oneself, seeing, communicating, and major bodily functions (Correct answer)
- Only activities related to employment
- Activities certified as major by the Social Security Administration
Correct answer: Activities such as caring for oneself, seeing, communicating, and major bodily functions
The ADAAA expanded major life activities to include both traditional activities and the operation of major bodily functions.
Question 6: A vocational evaluator is asked by an employer to assess whether a current employee with depression can return to work. Which legal principle should guide the evaluator's scope of inquiry?
- Evaluate all aspects of the employee's mental health history
- Focus only on whether the individual can perform the essential functions of the specific job (Correct answer)
- Recommend job elimination if full duties cannot be performed
- Disclose the evaluation findings directly to coworkers for accommodation planning
Correct answer: Focus only on whether the individual can perform the essential functions of the specific job
The ADA requires analysis of whether the individual can perform essential job functions, not a broad review of mental health history.
Question 7: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has primary enforcement authority over which aspect of the ADA relevant to vocational evaluators?
- Title II – State and local government services
- Title I – Employment discrimination (Correct answer)
- Title III – Public accommodations
- Title IV – Telecommunications relay services
Correct answer: Title I – Employment discrimination
The EEOC enforces Title I of the ADA, which prohibits employment discrimination based on disability.
CVE ADA & Legal Compliance 3
A client with a learning disability requests extended time on a vocational evaluation battery.
Under ADA principles, this accommodation is best justified because: