3.33 C. Reasonable Accommodation

• Library: Disability Law and Practice, Vol. 3 (NY) 2017

C. Reasonable Accommodation

New York State’s Human Rights Law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities. The law states:

It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer, licensing agency, employment agency or labor organization to refuse to provide reasonable accommodations to the known disabilities, or pregnancy-related conditions, of an employee, or prospective employee or member in connection with a job or occupation sought, provided however, that such actions do not impose an undue hardship on the business.

Nothing contained in this subdivision shall be construed to require provision of accommodations which can be demonstrated to impose an undue hardship on the operation of an employer’s, licensing agency’s, employment agency’s or labor organization’s business, program or enterprise.⁹⁸

In order to establish a prima facie case of failure to provide a reasonable accommodation pursuant to the NYSHRL an employee must establish that:

1.. Employee is an individual with a disability as defined by the statute;

2.. Employer had notice of employee’s disability;

3.. Employee could perform the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodation; and

4.. Employer failed to make such accommodations.⁹⁹

In Picinich v. United Parcel Service,¹⁰⁰ the court clarified the burdens of production and persuasion in a reasonable accommodation case stating that the plaintiff employee bears the burdens of proving the existence of a reasonable accommodation that will permit the employee to do the essential functions of the job. In order to identify such accommodation, the plaintiff must make at least a facial showing that an accommodation is possible. However, as to reasonableness of the accommodation, i.e., whether the particular accommodation would cause undue...