Direct Threat and Psychiatric Disabilities

The EEOC has taken the position that merely because a job applicant or employee may have a history of a psychiatric disability this does not mean that the person poses a direct threat. The same holds true for individuals who currently are being treated for a psychiatric disability. Nevertheless, if an individual with a psychiatric disability has a history of violence or threats of violence, an employer may refuse to hire the person if the employer can demonstrate that the individual poses a ''direct threat.'' As with other determinations pertaining to ''direct threat,'' any assessment of whether an individual with a history of violence of threats of violence constitutes a ''direct threat'' must be based ''on an individualized assessment of the individual's present ability to safely perform the functions of the job, considering the most current medical knowledge and/or the best available objective evidence.'' As part of this analysis, an employer must identify the specific behavior of the individual that would pose the direct threat and make an assessment of the likelihood and imminence of future violence.