The ADA asks two separate questions about an individual, and the exam punishes anyone who merges them. Coverage asks whether a person has a disability. Qualification asks whether they can do the job.
Qualified individual
Under 42 U.S.C. 12111, a qualified individual is a person who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position held or desired.
"With or without reasonable accommodation" is the whole point. A person is not disqualified because they cannot do the job exactly as currently structured. An applicant who can perform every duty given a modified schedule is qualified, since modified schedules are in the statute's own list. Cost plays no part here; cost is analysed under undue hardship. There is no medical-clearance standard and no probationary period first.
The statutory list of reasonable accommodations
42 U.S.C. 12111 names:
- Making existing facilities readily accessible and usable
- Job restructuring
- Part-time or modified work schedules
- Reassignment to a vacant position
- Acquisition or modification of equipment or devices
Two traps: the statute says a vacant position, not a newly created one, and permanently reassigning an essential function to a co-worker conflicts with the qualified-individual test. Keep the categories distinct — an ergonomic chair and a scanning device are acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, not job restructuring (which changes duties), not a schedule change, and not facility accessibility (ramps and doorways).
EEOC guidance states the general definition: any change in the work environment or in the way things are customarily done that enables an individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities. Equal opportunity, not guaranteed equal output.
Undue hardship
The statutory standard is an action requiring significant difficulty or expense, judged against factors including the cost of the accommodation, the financial resources of the facility and of the covered entity, and the nature of the operation. EEOC guidance adds accommodations that are unduly extensive, substantial, or disruptive, or that would fundamentally alter the nature or operation of the business.
There is no fixed percentage threshold, and co-worker resentment, novelty, and a manager's objection are not the test. At a 1,200-employee insurer, one division's exhausted budget line does not end the inquiry — the resources of the covered entity as a whole are in the analysis.