May an employer refuse to hire a person with a disability simply because s/he sustained a prior occupational injury?

May an employer refuse to hire a person with a disability simply because s/he sustained a prior occupational injury? No. The mere fact that a person with a disability experienced an occupational injury in the past does not, by itself, establish that his/her current employment in the position in question poses a direct threat, i.e., a significant risk of substantial harm that cannot be lowered or eliminated by a reasonable accommodation. However, evidence about a person's prior occupational injury, in some circumstances, may be relevant to the direct threat analysis discussed in question 11, above. An investigator should consider the following factors regarding a prior occupational injury in applying the direct threat analysis set forth in question 11, above: - whether the prior injury is related to the person's disability (e.g., if employees without disabilities in the person's prior job had similar injuries, this may indicate that the injury is not related to the disability and, thus, is irrelevant to the direct threat inquiry); - the circumstances surrounding the prior injury (e.g., the actions of others in the workplace or the lack of appropriate safety devices or procedures may have caused or contributed to the injury); - the similarities and differences between the position in question and the position in which the prior injury occurred (e.g., the prior position may have involved hazards not present in the position under consideration); - whether the current condition of the person with a disability is similar to his/her condition at the time of the prior injury (e.g., if the person's condition has improved, the prior injury may have little significance); - the number and frequency of prior occupational injuries; - the nature and severity of the prior injury (e.g., if the injury was minor, it may have little or no significance); - the amount of time the person has worked in the same or a similar position since the prior injury without subsequent injury; and - whether the risk of harm can be lowered or eliminated by a reasonable accommodation.