a) Statutory Definition - According to
Section 1-103(I) of the Act, the term "disability" in employment contexts means
a determinable physical or mental characteristic of a person, including but not
limited to a determinable physical characteristic which necessitates the
person's use of a guide or hearing dog, the history of such characteristic, or
the perception of such characteristic by the person complained against, which
may result from disease, injury, congenital condition of birth or functional
disorder and which characteristic is unrelated to the person's ability to
perform the duties of a particular job or position. This Section, together with
Section
2500.30,
interprets the various clauses within this definition.
b) Determinable Physical or Mental
Characteristic
1) The definition is not
confined to only those physical and mental conditions that are grave or extreme
in nature. However, it is interpreted as excluding:
A) conditions that are transitory and
insubstantial; and
B) conditions
that are not significantly debilitating or disfiguring.
2) To be covered, a condition must be
"determinable" by recognized clinical or laboratory diagnostic
techniques.
c) Resulting
from Disease, Injury, Congenital Condition of Birth or Functional Disorder
If a dispute arises as to whether a condition constitutes a
disablity, it is the burden of the person claiming the disability to establish
that the condition results from disease, injury, congenital condition of birth
or functional disorder. For example, the conditions of obesity and drug or
alcohol abuse shall not be deemed "disabilities" unless the person can
demonstrate that the condition arises from or constitutes the equivalent of a
disease or functional disorder. (Even when alcohol or drug dependence is
established as constituting a disease or functional disorder, see subsection
(d) of this Part regarding whether the condition is "unrelated to the person's
ability".)
d) Unrelated to
the Person's Ability to Perform the Duties of a Particular Job or Position
1) Under this language, the real or suspected
implications of a person's physical or mental condition are irrelevant, and
therefore cannot justify discrimination against the person, if those
implications do not affect the person's ability to acceptably perform the
particular job in question. Irrelevant implications include the preferences of
co-workers, clients and customers; the expense of providing fringe benefits
such as group insurance; and potential workers' compensation liability.
Moreover, a condition is "unrelated to a person's ability to perform the duties
of a particular job or position" if it merely affects the person's ability to
perform tasks or engage in activities that are apart from or only incidental to
the job in question.
2) On the
other hand, a person's condition is related to his/her ability if it would make
employment of the person in the particular position demonstrably hazardous to
the health or safety of the person or others, or if it is manifested or results
in behavior (e.g., absenteeism, poor quality or quantity of production or
disruptiveness) that fails to meet acceptable standards. Reasonable
accommodation of a person's physical or mental limitations must be explored, in
accordance with Section
2500.40,
to determine whether the condition prevents acceptable or safe performance of
the activities necessary to the job. However, a person's alcoholism or drug
dependence, manifested in intoxication or excessive absence or tardiness at
work, is presumptively related to the person's ability to perform.
