2.3 Qualified Individual with a Disability

Technical assistance manual on the employment provisions (Title I) of the Americans With Disabilities Act

II. WHO IS PROTECTED BY THE ADA?

To be protected by the ADA, a person must not only be an individual with a disability, but must be qualified. An employer is not required to hire or retain an individual who is not qualified to perform a job. The regulations define a qualified individual with a disability as a person with a disability who:

"satisfies the requisite skill, experience, education and other job–related requirements of the employment position such individual holds or desires, and who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of such position."

There are two basic steps in determining whether an individual is "qualified" under the ADA:

(1) Determine if the individual meets necessary prerequisites for the job, such as:

• education;
• work experience;
• training;
• skills;
• licenses;
• certificates;
• other job–related requirements, such as good judgment or ability to work with other people.

For example, the first step in determining whether an accountant who has cerebral palsy is qualified for a certified public accountant job is to determine if the person is a licensed CPA. If not, s/he is not qualified. Or, if it is a company’s policy that all its managers have at least three years’ experience working with the company, an individual with a disability who has worked for two years for the company would not be qualified for a mangerial position.

This first step is sometimes referred to as determining if an individual with a disability is "otherwise qualified." Note, however, that if an individual meets all job prerequisites except those that s/he cannot meet because of a disability, and alleges discrimination because s/he is "otherwise qualified" for a job, the employer would have to show that the requirement that screened out this person is "job related and consistent with business necessity." (See Chapter IV.)

If the individual with a disability meets the necessary job prerequisites:

(2) Determine if the individual can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation.

This second step, a key aspect of nondiscrimination under the ADA, has two parts:

• Identifying "essential functions of the job"; and
• Considering whether the person with a disability can perform these functions, unaided or with a "reasonable accommodation."

The ADA requires an employer to focus on the essential functions of a job to determine whether a person with a disability is qualified. This is an important nondiscrimination requirement. Many people with disabilities who can perform essential job functions are denied employment because they cannot do things that are only marginal to the job.

For example, a file clerk position description may state that the person holding the job answers the telephone, but if in fact the basic functions of the job are to file and retrieve written materials, and telephones actually or usually are handled by other employees, a person whose hearing impairment prevents use of a telephone and who is qualified to do the basic file clerk functions should not be considered unqualified for this position.