Suppose an employee comes to work with a boa constrictor wrapped around their body and says, “this snake is my emotional support animal. I need this snake at work and I know my rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act,” (“ADA”). What do you do?
Historically, employers have found the ADA to be a difficult anti-discrimination law to understand. As ADA lawyers, we know that ADA claims can be dangerous, high-dollar matters. Disability discrimination cases are among the easiest cases for employees to win. For an example of this, see our blog about an employer who violated the ADA and ended up paying an employee $725,000 for a bottle of orange juice.
A New Challenge for Employers
A new challenge under the ADA is dealing with employees who have disabilities and need either a service animal or an emotional support animal. ADA lawyers can provide support for employers that are concerned about how to follow the ADA guidelines.
Disability cases typically present compelling facts, which often motivates jurors to find employers liable and award punitive damages. A Plaintiff’s lawyer can make the compelling argument that all a disabled employee wants is to be a productive member of society. Instead of sitting at home and collecting welfare or a disability check, which disabled people could find demeaning, all they want is a job—a right many of us take for granted.
Is the Employee’s Request Reasonable?
The ADA requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees who have disabilities but are otherwise qualified for the job. This realm of reasonable accommodations includes service and emotional support animals.
Service animals are not limited to dogs. They include many types of animals: monkeys, ferrets, mini horses, parrots, potbelly pigs and boa constrictors. Yes, even a boa constrictor is recognized as a permissible service animal.
A disabled employee in Shelton, Washington suffers from seizures. His boa constrictor can sense when he is about to have a seizure and tightly squeezes him. This gives him enough time to take his medication or other precautions until his seizure passes. Imagine the consternation and disruption in a workplace when one of your employees strolls around the office with a boa constrictor wrapped around their body. Yet, forbidding an employee from bringing a boa constrictor service animal to work may create significant ADA liability for an employer.
Proceed Cautiously With the Help of an ADA Lawyer
Because this is a cutting-edge area of the law, ADA Lawyers advise careful analysis and caution. Only recently have employees (other than blind employees) begun asking to bring service or emotional support animals into the workplace. Some requests for an emotional support animal may trigger ADA laws and some may not. Since there is little guidance from the Courts, an employer or employee should contact an ADA lawyer. They can help analyze the situation on the front end when the request is first made.
Determining whether or not an employer made a reasonable accommodation is a judgement call. There is no mathematical formula or clear guidelines from the EEOC as to what accommodations an employer must make. Therefore, all parties concerned need to proceed cautiously with the help of an ADA lawyer when it comes to service or emotional support animal concerns.