Grammatical challenges aside, the aforementioned title is an actual statement said to me by an employee when approached with issues surrounding their work performance.  No matter what the issue, behavioral, attendance, or performance, it seems that there is now a medical reason for every deficiency.  Notwithstanding those who have legitimate medical concerns that do affect their work, the potential for abuse is profound.   If employers thought the Family/Medical Leave Act was difficult to administer, wait until employees get wind of the new ADA provisions.

With the ADA Amendments Act  (ADAAA) signed into law in January 2009, most health conditions that you can dream up can now be considered a disability.  I never thought I qualified under the ADA until the exhaustive list of “major life activities” was released.  New additions include sleeping, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating and the operation of a major bodily function, including but not limited to, functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine and reproductive functions.  These were all additional activities to supplement those in the original ADA (i.e., walking, speaking, breathing, hearing).

So what are employers to do?  Do they cease disciplinary action whenever an employee brings up a medical condition?  Do they ignore performance deficiencies, attendance and behavioral issues?  The answer is yes and yes.  Unfortunately.  At least in my experience managers tend to feel this is a legal landmine and they would prefer avoidance.  Rather than beginning the dialogue and attempting accommodation, the employee now has a get out of jail free card for whenever there is a problem during their employment relationship.

Accommodation only has to be “reasonable” under the ADAAA, so an employer doesn’t have to deal with the employee who shouts obscenities at customers (Tourette Syndrome), the employee who steals (Kleptomania Disorder), or the employee who no longer wants to work night shift, because it interferes with their circadian rhythms (Shift Work Sleep Disorder).

Yes, I’ve heard all of the above scenarios.   Employers who haven’t yet trained their managers on the provisions of the ADAAA are running the legal risk that managers will connect impairment or a perceived impairment to an employment decision.  Educating managers in terms of their role in accommodation under the ADA will help well meaning managers learn to keep quiet about any perceived disabilities and to attempt accommodation when presented with an employee with a disability.  They will also know when to pick up the phone and get some professional assistance (yes, I mean HR).  Personally, I automatically assume that those who don’t use subject-verb agreement have a condition.