Professionals with disabling medical conditions have legal protections. Employers should not discriminate against professionals based on their medical status when deciding who to hire. They may also need to support workers to make their job tasks safe and accessible.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employees can request workplace accommodations. Their employers may need to provide them with various forms of support, such as modified job responsibilities, remote work arrangements, assistive technology or even workplace modifications for accessibility.
Frequently, the need for accommodations conflicts with the desire for medical privacy. Workers may worry about their personal medical history becoming workplace gossip if they ask for support. Do professionals need to tell their employers their specific diagnosis to be eligible for accommodations?
Disclosure isn’t mandatory
Workers seeking accommodations under the ADA do not necessarily need to inform their employers of their specific diagnosis. A diagnostic report explaining their condition isn’t necessary for them to qualify for accommodations.
Instead, the worker typically needs documentation from their physician validating their functional limitations that impact their work and outlining the accommodations that they require. The documentation provided by a medical professional does not need to specifically state the diagnosis or medical condition that makes accommodations necessary.
Employers cannot demand disclosure from workers with support needs. They also should not decline accommodation requests due to a worker asserting their right to medical privacy.
Employees denied reasonable accommodations or retaliated against for requesting them may have experienced disability discrimination. Documenting employer conduct and communicating with an employment law attorney can help workers with disabling medical conditions understand and use their legal protections.