Can an employer terminate you for seeking substance abuse treatment?
Full Question:
Answer:
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 1973 prohibits employment discrimination against any qualified individual with a disability. The conditions that are covered by this Act apply to a wide range of mental and physical disabilities. Some handicaps are obvious such as someone who is paralyzed or blind. However, in other cases, people have recovered from their disabilities, but have still encountered discrimination because of their past medical records. Cancer and mental illness are examples of past medical conditions that may be protected by the ADA. The ADA defines disability very broadly and includes any person with: (1) a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of the individual's major life activities; (2) a record of such an impairment; or (3) an individual who is regarded by the employer as having such an impairment. The test is a two-pronged test. First, you must decide whether or not there is a physical or mental impairment. If so, you must decide whether or not it substantially limits a major life function. The term “major life activity” includes such normal functions as caring for oneself, seeing, speaking, or walking.
The ADA makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against any qualified individual with a disability because of the disability. A qualified individual with a disability is any person who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job. The ADA applies to virtually every employment practice, from the applica¬tion procedures for hiring to compensation, training, other terms and conditions of employment, and discharge. The statute defines reasonable accommodation to include physical alteration of existing facilities to make them accessible to people with disabilities, restructuring jobs, allowing part-time or modified working schedules, acquiring or modifying equipment, and hiring qualified readers for the blind or interpreters for the deaf. However, expenses and business necessity are considered in determining what reasonable accommodation is required.
The Act excludes from its coverage employees or applicants who are engaged in the illegal use of drugs. This exclusion does not include an individual who has been successfully rehabilitated from drug use or is no longer engaging in the illegal use of drugs.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces the ADA.
