Can an employer claim that a reasonable accommodation imposes an undue hardship simply because it violates a collective bargaining agreement (CBA)?

Can an employer claim that a reasonable accommodation imposes an undue hardship simply because it violates a collective bargaining agreement (CBA)? No. First, an employer should determine if it could provide a reasonable accommodation that would remove the workplace barrier without violating the CBA. If no reasonable accommodation exists that avoids violating the CBA, then the ADA requires an employer and a union, as a collective bargaining representative, to negotiate in good faith a variance to the CBA so that the employer may provide a reasonable accommodation, except if the proposed accommodation unduly burdens the expectations of other workers (i.e., causes undue hardship). Undue hardship must be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine the extent to which the proposed accommodation would affect the expectations of other employees. Among the relevant factors to assess would be the duration and severity of any adverse effects caused by granting a variance and the number of employees whose employment opportunities would be affected by the variance.