Description
PROMPT: CASE STUDY
Adele, a fully qualified specialized registered nurse, is deaf. She relies upon an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter to communicate with hearing individuals in the workplace. Adele applied for a job with Marigold Mercy Receiving and Trauma Center ("MMRTC"), a large medical center that, with all its hubs and subsidiaries, grossed $1.3 billion annually. Adele received a job offer, conditioned upon a health screening and clearance by MMRTC's occupational health department. She is in fact cleared, but she notified MMRTC that she needed an ASL interpreter as an accommodation for her hearing impairment. The annual salary, including benefits, for her position was approximately $75,000. Upon investigation, American Public University System calculated that the annual cost to MMRTC for the ASL interpreter accommodation would be $120,000; there was the need for a full time interpreter for Adele, plus several situations where two ASL interpreters would be required. In considering Adele's request for accommodation, the department's hiring supervisor wrote in an email that the department's annual HR budget allocation of $3 million could not absorb the "excessive cost of the additional personnel" of ASL qualified interpreters "for this one nurse." MMRTC determined the additional salary and personnel would be an "undue hardship," making the accommodation unreasonable. Therefore, MMRTC did not hire Adele. Did MMRTC violate ADA?
DISCUSS: Was MMRTC within its rights to refuse the accommodation and thus not hire Adele? In considering this case, you should review: 1) what is considered a "reasonable" accommodation under ADA; (2) sample accommodations listed by ADA (42 U.S.C. § 12111(9) (2018)) and the EEOC (www.eeoc.gov); and (3) the definition and standard for "undue hardship" (42 U.S.C. § 12111(10)(a) (2018)). Please support your thoughts and conclusion with reasoned analysis.
Explanation & Answer
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MMRTC was within its rights to refuse accommodation to Adele and not hire her
because of undue hardship resulting from the accommodation. The center did not discriminate
against Adele for her hearing impairment because they offered her a job, so there were no
violations of the Equal employment opportunity commission (EEOC) guidelines to be
discriminated against for her ...