We’re all hearing and reading a lot about DE&I—diversity, equity, and inclusion. Many DE&I efforts focus on race and gender, but there is a lot more to the subject. Other aspects of diversity include gender identity, sexual orientation, veteran status, age, socioeconomic class, and disability. At leading organizations, DE&I is seen as essential to the business and not just as a way to demonstrate good corporate citizenship or as penance for past inequities.
And DE&I is not just for employees. The best companies have recognized that DE&I efforts also should include vendors and customers. For instance, acting on the recommendations of a design consultant who is blind, Proctor & Gamble recently redesigned the bottles for its Herbal Essences shampoos and conditioners so that showerers who cannot read the labels—whether because of visual impairment, lack of English proficiency, or soap in their eyes—can tell by touch which is which.
Accommodating disabilities doesn’t have to be expensive or disruptive. According to the 2020 annual survey by the Job Accommodation Network, most of the employers that had made accommodations for employees with disabilities (56%) said the accommodations cost absolutely nothing. Another 39% incurred a one-time expense (median=$500), and only 5% said that they incurred ongoing, annual expenses.
By contrast, refusing to make reasonable accommodations can be expensive indeed, as illustrated by a 2021 federal appeals case. Ryan Burnett, who uses a wheelchair for mobility, struggled every day to open the heavy, wooden workplace doors. Just beyond the entrance was a downward slope that caused Mr. Burnett’s wheelchair to roll backwards as the doors closed on him. After five years, Mr. Burnett asked the office manager if the company would install an automatic door opener, but no one ever responded to his request. A few months later, Mr. Burnett injured his wrist as he pulled open the heavy door and tried to push himself inside quickly. He reported the injury and a supervisor filed an incident report on his behalf, but no one followed up on his request for automatic doors.
Frustrated by the lack of response, Mr. Burnett filed a disability discrimination charge with a state agency, but even that did not move the company to act, so Mr. Burnett quit and sued. A federal jury awarded him $150,000 in compensatory damages plus $500,000 in punitive damages.Burnett v. Ocean Props., 987 F.3d 57 (1st Cir. 2021)
What this means to you: The court opinion did not say what the door opener would have cost, so I looked it up on JAN’s accommodations database and found commercial-grade automatic door openers, complete with indoor and outdoor push-buttons, for less than $2,000. Mr. Burnett’s employer could have bought more than 300 of them! Instead, it lost a long-term employee as well as a substantial jury verdict, not to mention the attorneys’ fees.
Make sure your manager and supervisors don’t act like this! They need to know how to respond to requests for reasonable accommodations, not only for disabilities, but also for pregnancies and religious beliefs. Managers learn about preventing discrimination in our Managing Within the Law webinar, just revised for 2021! Our web classes have all the advantages of classroom training – because they are live and instructor-led – without the cost, time, and travel. To find out more about our national HR training programs or to book a workshop, please call 800-458-2778 or email us.
Updated 03-08-2021
Information here is correct at the time it is posted. Case decisions cited here may be reversed. Please do not rely on this information without consulting an attorney first.