The Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers Connecticut, New York and Vermont, recently issued a decision that clarifies the obligations employers have to provide a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In Tudor v. Whitehall Central School District (2d Cir., March 25, 2025), the Second Circuit ruled that an employer may be obligated to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee even if the employee can perform the essential job functions without it.
In Tudor, the plaintiff was a teacher who was diagnosed with PTSD. For years, she was granted an accommodation that allowed her to take short breaks during her “prep periods” when she was not responsible for supervising students. In 2016, the school district implemented a policy change that initially prohibited teachers from leaving campus during these periods. The policy was later revised to allow a morning break and occasionally an afternoon break when coverage was available.
During the 2019-2020 school year, the plaintiff was required to supervise students during her regular afternoon break time. Although no employees were able to cover the plaintiff’s afternoon breaks, she nonetheless continued to take them without formal approval. The plaintiff claimed that taking the afternoon breaks heightened her anxiety because she believed that she was violating school policy.
Then plaintiff filed a lawsuit asserting that the school district’s refusal to grant her a fifteen-minute afternoon break each day during the 2019-2020 school year violated the ADA and New York law. During discovery, the plaintiff admitted that she was able to perform the essential functions of her job without the additional accommodation she requested, but “under great duress and harm.”
The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the school district, reasoning that since the plaintiff admitted she could perform her essential job functions without the requested accommodation, she could not establish a required element of her ADA claim. The Second Circuit vacated the district court’s decision and held that an employee is not required under the ADA to demonstrate that an accommodation is necessary to perform essential job functions—only that it is reasonable.
The Second Circuit stated, that “an employer must, absent undue hardship, offer a reasonable accommodation—such as a modified work schedule—to an employee with a disability if that employee is capable of performing the essential functions of her job with or without the accommodation. Under a straightforward reading of the phrase ‘with or without,’ the fact that an employee can perform her job responsibilities without a reasonable accommodation does not mean that she must: she may be a ‘qualified individual’ entitled to reasonable accommodation even if she can perform the essential functions of her job without one.”
Employer Takeaway
The main takeaway for employers is to engage in an interactive process with employees who request an accommodation due to a disability even if they can perform the essential job functions. In doing so, employers should focus on whether: (a) the requested accommodation addresses/alleviates a disability-related limitation such as pain or discomfort; (b) the request is reasonable; and (c) the requested accommodation would pose an undue hardship.
This information is for educational purposes only, to provide general information and a general understanding of the law. It does not constitute legal advice and does not establish any attorney-client relationship.