This is a true account of a person I’ll call “Matilda,” a remote sales agent at Bob’s House of Quilts & Surfboards in Monkey’s Eyebrow, KY (No, it doesn’t exist, but I just filed the trademark). Her story perfectly illustrates what happens when employers ignore the Americans with Disabilities Act – and why reasonable accommodations aren’t “special treatment,” they’re federal law.
Earlier this year, Matilda suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI), which affects her ability to recall items you might think of as simple or mundane. A couple of months later, she underwent surgery to remove a three-millimeter brain tumor, further exacerbating the TBI’s effects. As someone who’s had nine concussions and several TBIs myself, I know what she’s going through in so many ways.
Before Bob’s introduced a new “policy” requiring all remote sales agents to follow a detailed script step-by-step—with any missed “jot or tittle” subject to write-ups or termination—Matilda had already disclosed her condition. She asked to be transferred to a different role within the company. HR refused.
Then came the write-up. Her supervisor, at Dan the HR person’s behest, cited her for “getting the call recap out of order on several calls over the few days we reviewed.” When Matilda invoked the ADA and requested the write-up be rescinded, Dan replied that “no one else on the team seems to be having any issues” and “no one else is complaining.”
Dan’s response reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of federal law. According to a workplace attorney I spoke with, “What Dan and his colleagues fail to understand is that the company ‘policy’ crumples under Federal Law. When someone has a disability like Matilda’s, remembering the order of a phone conversation’s recap is not an essential function to do one’s job. Moreover, it is more than reasonable to allow Matilda and others like her to cover everything they need to recap, regardless of the order they do it in, so long as they get it in there. Allowing Matilda to switch to a separate department would have been more reasonable.”
Understanding the ADA
The ADA requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations—modifications to a job or work environment—for qualifying individuals with disabilities, provided they don’t create an “undue hardship” on the employer. According to the Lovely Law Firm in South Carolina, “Providing accommodations is not special treatment, as it levels the playing field and allows those with disabilities to contribute their skills and expertise like any other employee.”
This matters now more than ever. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 22.7% of people with disabilities were employed in 2024—the highest recorded level since data collection began almost 20 years ago.
What Reasonable Accommodations Look Like
Accommodations include job restructuring, flexible schedules, modified equipment, accessible technology, or communication aids. Here are real examples:
Modified Equipment: At a radio cluster out west, I worked with a visually impaired colleague who received a special monitor that allowed him to work more efficiently. Because he was sensitive to fluorescent lights, he was also given special lighting easier on his eyes.
Flexible Schedules and Telework: Adjusting work schedules allows employees with chronic medical conditions to attend medical appointments and complete their work at alternate times or locations. When I was with Xerox and Tesla, I worked from home as I recovered from total knee replacement surgeries and while on paternity leave. I answered every email, called in to meetings, engaged clients, and did my job as I was able. Would you pass on a world-class PhD candidate who’s the best person for the role simply because they need to work remotely due to a medical condition? I doubt you’d say, “It’s not a remote role” in that instance.
Communication Aids: Providing videophones, sign language interpreters, or closed captioning at meetings and events for deaf or hard-of-hearing employees.
According to an ADA resource, “An employer is only required to accommodate a ‘known’ disability of a qualified applicant or employee. The requirement will generally be initiated by a request from an individual with a disability, who frequently will be able to suggest an appropriate accommodation.” When they can’t, the employer and individual should work together to identify one. Reasonable accommodations must be made case-by-case because the nature and extent of a disability and the requirements of a job vary.
Unfortunately, many disabled Americans aren’t fully aware of their rights regarding workplace accommodations or face conditions that don’t accommodate their specific needs, leading to discrimination or unfair treatment. I’ve seen organizations make accommodations for colleagues, and I’ve seen them ignore requests made under the ADA. In Matilda’s case, there’s pending legal action, which should tell you everything you need to know about how Dan handled this situation—like someone who was previously let go from the Walmart customer service desk for refusing to refund an unopened item for a customer with a receipt.
The Bottom Line
Having a disability doesn’t make one disabled. It means they have the ability to do their job differently than anyone else can, though they may need you to reasonably accommodate their requests to show you how amazingly talented they are.
