Employee Must Request Accommodations

The EEOC has recognized that ''in general ... it is the responsibility of the individual with a disability to inform the employer that an accommodation is needed.'' The courts have followed the EEOC's guidance and have adopted the standard rule that a disabled applicant or employee normally must request an accommodation before an employer's responsibilities under the ADA attach. The ADA recognizes that employers cannot be expected to anticipate all the problems that a disability may create on the job and spontaneously accommodate them. Thus, in most circumstances, the duty to accommodate will be triggered by a request from an employee or job applicant. The statute, however, does not require an employee or job applicant to speak any magic words to invoke the protections of the Act. As explained by the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, the employee need not mention the ADA or even the term ''accommodation.'' As the Seventh Circuit said in Bultemeyer v. Fort Wayne Community Schools , ''properly participating in the interactive process means that an employer cannot expect an employee to read its mind and know that he or she must specifically say 'I want reasonable accommodation.' ''