ADA Doesn't Accommodate Bad Behavior

Many of us either have or have worked with someone who has a mental disorder of some type. In some cases the employees have a legitimate need and apply under ADA and other times the employee is trying to abuse the protection the government affords. This leaves employers in a peculiar situation where they aren't sure just how much bad behavior they are supposed to tolerate.

ADA legislation states that a disabled person is an individual who has physical or mental disorder that limits a major life activity. People who feel they have a disorder fill out the appropriate documentation through a certified medical provider and then submit this to the company. The company can either accept the accommodation request or offer a reasonable offer. If the employee fails to accept a reasonable accommodation they can be removed from ADA protection.

Nearly 1 in every 5 Americans has some type of mental disorder. These mental disorders have a wide range of names. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression are most common among workplace disorders. Sometimes these disorders manifest themselves in the workplace and employers should make every attempt to accommodate them except when it violates their rules.

Take a worker by the name of Tom. Tom was a high functioning mentally handicapped worker. Sometimes Tom would get upset when people told him what to do and when people talked down to him. One day an employee made a comment that he should do some work instead of standing around. Tom became furious and after a few minutes of debate tried to stab the other employee with a pen.

Now we have a situation where we are not accommodating a person's mental handicap and where we are not protecting an employee's right to safety in the workplace. In the end we terminated the violent employee, despite his handicap, and gave a written warning to the verbally insulting employee. Each received the appropriate discipline based upon his offence.