REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION: HERE IS SOMETHING WE HAVE NOT SEEN BEFORE
EEOC just blessed the idea that while an employee who has requested a reasonable accommodation waits for that accommodation to be provided it is equally reasonable for the employee to request that his/her performance standards be suspended until the formal accommodation is in place. In Kristopher v. Mnuchin, EEOC No. 2019001911 (2021) the employee and agency agreed to provide the employee additional software to accommodate and disability, but acquiring it would take a while. Consequently, EEO suggested the parties agree to suspend the employee’s performance standards in the meantime. Sounds like something union reps should keep in mind. In fact, we wonder why the employee would not request the standards have been suspended from the time the disability impacted his/her performance. The employee was awarded $75,000 in compensatory damages for the agency’s delay.