An employer generally must provide reasonable accommodation to a qualified individual with a disability unless doing so would impose undue hardship. Most litigation is not about whether a particular accommodation was reasonable; it is about the process.
The interactive process. Once an employer knows of a need, it is expected to engage in a good-faith dialogue to identify an effective accommodation. No magic words are required from the employee — a request need not mention any statute. An employer that ignores a request, or announces a decision without discussion, frequently loses on that ground alone.
Reasonable accommodations commonly include modified schedules, leave, remote work where the role permits, equipment, restructuring of non-essential functions, and reassignment to a vacant position. What is not required is removing an essential function of the job, creating a new position, or displacing another employee.
Essential functions should be identified in the job description before any dispute — a description written after a request is worth much less.
Undue hardship is assessed against the employer’s resources and operations and is a genuinely high bar; inconvenience is not enough.
Documentation. Medical information may be requested where the disability or need is not obvious, kept confidential and separate from the personnel file. Over- requesting is itself a risk.
The practical instruction for employers is to treat every request as opening a conversation that must be documented, and to record the alternatives considered even when the request is granted.