Disability

An employee or applicant for employment who requires a reasonable accommodation to perform the essential functions of their job must first be established as a person with a disability by the University.

Initiate the Process

• Contact the ADA/504 Coordinator, in the Office of Equal Opportunity (EO) at 802-656-0945. 
• The process begins with a discussion about the need for an accommodation, the existing medical condition, and any documentation required from the individual's health care provider for a determination that the employee has a disability, as defined by the ADA. 
• If medical documentation is required to make this determination, the employee or applicant for employment must provide information from a duly licensed health care provider to the ADA/504 Coordinator.

Documentation

Documentation used to determine whether the employee has a disability will be kept on file separately from the employee's University personnel file and will remain private, to the extent permitted by law.  Information will be disclosed to the supervisor and other University officials only to the extent necessary to determine and implement appropriate, reasonable accommodations.

If the initial medical documentation provided is not sufficient to make a determination of disability, the ADA/504 Coordinator will request that the employee provide additional information. 

• The University may require specific additional information from the health care provider.
• The University may also request an independent assessment if the University cannot determine whether an employee has a disability based on the information provided by the employee's health care professional or if their accommodation request is related to their condition.

Next Steps

• If the employee is found to have a disability, the ADA/504 Coordinator will discuss possible accommodations with the employee, supervisor, and other campus professionals, as necessary.
• Once a reasonable accommodation is agreed upon and any necessary funding is secured, the ADA/504 Coordinator will continue to work with the employee, the supervisor, and other University officials to implement the accommodation as efficiently as possible.

If, following the provision of accommodations under this procedure, the employee wishes to request a modified accommodation, this request must be made to the ADA/504 Coordinator, and will be considered using the procedure outlined above. 

Any disagreements about implementing agreed upon accommodations should be brought to the attention of the ADA/504 Coordinator.

An individual who believes they have been subject to discrimination on the basis of a disability may file a complaint with the AAEO.  Before filing a complaint with AAEO regarding an accommodation, the individual should attempt to reach consensus on reasonable accommodation by following all steps in the procedure outlined above.

Questions and requests related to a reasonable accomodations should be directed to:

Diane Gaboriault, Leave & Compliance Manager