What Medical Information Can Employers Request and Remain ADA Compliant?

By Lana L. Rupprecht, Esq., Director & Product Compliance Counsel, Matrix Absence Management, Inc.; and Marti Cardi, Esq., Senior Compliance Consultant, Legal Counsel, Matrix Absence Management, Inc.

Many employers are not sure what medical information they are entitled to receive under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when responding to employee requests for reasonable accommodations.

Employers may not ask employees if they have a disability or inquire into the nature or severity of the disability “unless such examination is shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity,” according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).¹

This means that an employer must have a reasonable belief based on objective evidence that an employee will be unable to perform the job’s essential functions because of a medical condition or the employee will pose a direct threat because of the medical condition.²

Disability-related inquiries and requests for medical examinations that follow a request for reasonable accommodation when a disability or need for accommodation is unknown or not obvious also must be job-related and consistent with business necessity.^2,3

But how does that work in a real-life scenario?

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