How to ask for reasonable accommodation

[keiko12345]

State: Kansas

I am employed through a temp agency and have worked at a company for 5 months. I have a genetic disorder that, among other things, makes me grow tumors more easily than the average person and have a higher risk of cancer, because my body is unable to stop their growth. The tumors are usually benign and a cosmetic concern, although they do have the potential to become malignant, so if I have a new growth it must be biopsied. Because of this, I have to avoid UV light, since it can cause cell mutations and the formation of tumors. I can't be exposed to direct UV light, even though glass, since UVA still penetrates through windows.

I requested to be allowed to put up blackout curtains in my current office, which I was allowed to do by my former manager. My manager quit, and I now have a new manager who wants us to move to a different office on campus. I have advised her of my medical condition, and requested a room without windows in the new office. The room I requested is a room with several cubicles. I previously thought there were unoccupied cubicles in this area, but my manager said she spoke to HR, who said there is no room there. HR is planning to move me to a cubicle right next to a window. My boss thought that the cubicle wall would be enough of a barrier to keep out the UV. It wouldn't be, because the light would still enter over the cubicle wall. It isn't possible to put up curtains in this area (it's a "front desk" type of area and pretty much the face of the company).

I asked my manager if I could talk to HR directly about this, and she said not to. I'm afraid of stepping in my manager's toes, especially being a temp who has not yet been converted to permanent. However, my health comes first, and I do want to request an accommodation.

My question is: to what extent will my accommodation request be reasonable? I would prefer a desk in the windowless room. Would it be reasonable to request a trade with another employee? Employees do not particularly like being in the windowless room, so I'm sure they would jump at the chance to have a nice and sunny office. However, HR might not go for it, because most of the employees in that area are production personnel, while the area they want to put me in is administrative area. I can't stay in my current office because we lease that building and won't be renewing the lease. There really isn't another acceptable area in that building. I could potentially find another area on campus, but I don't know if they would want to move me there.

What are my rights and what would be reasonable to ask for?

Thank you!

 

[justalayman]

The uv light doesn't enter "over the cubicle wall". Light travels is a straight line so if
You are behind a cubicle wall you are shielded from the direct uva light. What, if any, uva light is reflected into your cubicle will be based on what is in a direct path of the window and how reflective it is to uva light.

Do you wear sunscreen? Do you cover yourself completely with clothing dense enough to block uv light? Obviously when you are outside you are obligated to provide your own protections. Is there some reason you wouldn't provide the same protections for yourself once inside the building?

 

[cbg]

It's hard to say what's reasonable and what isn't. There are a lot of factors that have to go into deciding where people sit, and to be quite frank with you, a temp who may or may not be offered a full time position is not going to be a high priority.

What I would suggest is that you go through the temp agency. See if the agency will advocate for you - they will carry more clout than you will individually.

And also what JAL said.

 

[keiko12345]

The uv light doesn't enter "over the cubicle wall". Light travels is a straight line so if
You are behind a cubicle wall you are shielded from the direct uva light. What, if any, uva light is reflected into your cubicle will be based on what is in a direct path of the window and how reflective it is to uva light.

Do you wear sunscreen? Do you cover yourself completely with clothing dense enough to block uv light? Obviously when you are outside you are obligated to provide your own protections. Is there some reason you wouldn't provide the same protections for yourself once inside the building?

I forgot to mention that I have a standing desk, so unfortunately the cubicle wall would not provide an adequate barrier. It could work if they were able to provide a ceiling for the cubicle.

I do wear sunscreen and a large hat while outside. It would be impractical to wear a large-brimmed hat while indoors. I typically only wear sunscreen on my face and neck, and opt for a jacket and long pants while I'm outside. I take the jacket off while indoors for comfort reasons. I could apply sunscreen to my arms as well, i just don't usually because I currently don't have the need to and because it rubs off on everything.

My manager told me that HR is going to have to rearrange the office in order to arrange cubicle they want to put me in. That's one of the reasons I feel like what I'm requesting is not unreasonable, because it seems as if the move they are anticipating isn't going to be a simple process as it is.

 

[keiko12345]

It's hard to say what's reasonable and what isn't. There are a lot of factors that have to go into deciding where people sit, and to be quite frank with you, a temp who may or may not be offered a full time position is not going to be a high priority.

What I would suggest is that you go through the temp agency. See if the agency will advocate for you - they will carry more clout than you will individually.

And also what JAL said.

That's my fear exactly. I really don't want to step on anyone's toes since I'm not a permanent employee. That's good advice though. Thanks.

 

[xylene]

Get a UV light meter, you may find ordinary commercial glass blocks out a very very very large portion of UV light (99.99) because office don't want their expensive furnishings and wall treatments to fade, plus it is good for energy efficiency.

 

[justalayman]

Is there a reason you can't sit at a sit down desk? Ya totally lost me on the ceiling for the cubicle issue. If the wall isn't tall enough to shade you while standing, how would the put a ceiling on your cubicle and you still be able to stand?


And if uva light is an issue you need to wear sunscreen indoors if that's your best protection. As well, you can wear protective clothing to fulfill most of your needs. Personally if I was the employer I would give you an abaya a hijab and a niqab and let you wear sunglasses and dinner gloves.


The biggger question to me is do they even have to afford you this accomodstion. Your work is not adversely affected by the light. It's just that you are trying to protect yourself from the natural light for your own health benefits.

You do seem to expect the employer to afford you some accomdstions when I see them as medical issues you can address without any accommodations. It's like me wearing glasses. I can't expect the employer to put me at the front of the conference room so I don't have to wear my glasses. I put on my glasses so I can see from where I am sitting.

 

[cbg]

The biggger question to me is do they even have to afford you this accomodstion. Your work is not adversely affected by the light. It's just that you are trying to protect yourself from the natural light for your own health benefits.

I both agree and disagree with this. I agree that it's questionable whether an accommodation is needed in this situation. I'm not saying for sure that it isn't but I'm not 100% convinced that it is.

However I think a case could be made, IN GENERAL, that when a person has a medical condition that is adversely affected by working conditions, that the ADA is not an inappropriate response.

 

[keiko12345]

Is there a reason you can't sit at a sit down desk? Ya totally lost me on the ceiling for the cubicle issue. If the wall isn't tall enough to shade you while standing, how would the put a ceiling on your cubicle and you still be able to stand?


And if uva light is an issue you need to wear sunscreen indoors if that's your best protection. As well, you can wear protective clothing to fulfill most of your needs. Personally if I was the employer I would give you an abaya a hijab and a niqab and let you wear sunglasses and dinner gloves.


The biggger question to me is do they even have to afford you this accomodstion. Your work is not adversely affected by the light. It's just that you are trying to protect yourself from the natural light for your own health benefits.

You do seem to expect the employer to afford you some accomdstions when I see them as medical issues you can address without any accommodations. It's like me wearing glasses. I can't expect the employer to put me at the front of the conference room so I don't have to wear my glasses. I put on my glasses so I can see from where I am sitting.

Haha, well that clothing choice would certainly do the trick! Although, living in Kansas, I may run into a whole different type of issue if I chose to wear that...

And the cubicle ceiling, I don't know. I'm not an expert in cubicle design, so I didn't know if there was some sort of wall extension, ceiling attachment available. All I know is that the cubicle walls at my company stop at about shoulder height.

I have a standing desk because my condition causes muscular pain in my legs that makes it painful for me to sit for an extended period. What I have is a mutation in a gene that is involved in many different bodily processes; in my case, it causes tumor growth and a muscular disorder. I paid for the desk myself, although my company did offer to pay for it! So they are actually quite nice and accommodating.

I see your point! However, if it is a fairly straightforward request (allowing me to sit in a different area) that doesn't cause undue hardship, I would argue that allowing it would provide me with more time to focus on my job, rather than worrying about applying sunscreen every two hours. I don't expect them to bend over backwards for me, and I am definitely open to considering other suggestions they might have, even if it's not my first choice.

 

[keiko12345]

The biggger question to me is do they even have to afford you this accomodstion. Your work is not adversely affected by the light. It's just that you are trying to protect yourself from the natural light for your own health benefits.

I both agree and disagree with this. I agree that it's questionable whether an accommodation is needed in this situation. I'm not saying for sure that it isn't but I'm not 100% convinced that it is.

However I think a case could be made, IN GENERAL, that when a person has a medical condition that is adversely affected by working conditions, that the ADA is not an inappropriate response.

Yes, that's the point I'm trying to make. The reason I posted on this forum is because I wasn't sure if by law this warrants an accommodation. I'm not the kind of person who expects special treatment because of my health issues. I take care of my own needs and I don't generally ask for help. It's just something in my life that I deal with, and usually I do a darn good job of it on my own. I'm not going to ask my employer to get rid of all fluorescent lights because they emit some UV. I'm not going to ask that they install covered walkways from the parking lot to the building so I don't have to wear a hat outside. I just don't want to sit directly next to a window. I don't feel as though that's unreasonable or outlandish, at least not by common-sense standards (the law may be a different story).

But in this case, I would argue against what JAL said about me protecting myself from natural light for my own health benefit. I would not consider that this would provide me with any type of benefit; it would simply afford me an equal amount of protection as other employees who do not have the same condition I do, because their bodies have a greater level of protection against UV light than mine does. That's just how I interpret it, though!

 

[xylene]

Look at amazon and ebay for UV light meters. Then you'll have data on your actual exposure in different kinds of environments. No sightline to a window doesn't mean no exposure and modern windows block UV, they have films and special materials in the glazing and double and triple glazing

Asking for an accommodation when not needed won't help you condition and won't help your employment.

 

[keiko12345]

Get a UV light meter, you may find ordinary commercial glass blocks out a very very very large portion of UV light (99.99) because office don't want their expensive furnishings and wall treatments to fade, plus it is good for energy efficiency.

Interesting idea! I would very much doubt if my office did, because it is a very old building and in various states of disrepair, haha! But at any rate, it's something I could look into! As I understand it, most typical window glass blocks out nearly all UVB, but a much smaller percentage of UVA.

 

[keiko12345]

Look at amazon and ebay for UV light meters. Then you'll have data on your actual exposure in different kinds of environments. No sightline to a window doesn't mean no exposure and modern windows block UV, they have films and special materials in the glazing and double and triple glazing

Asking for an accommodation when not needed won't help you condition and won't help your employment.

True! I actually can't believe I didn't think of that before. That would come in handy for me in my home life as well. Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[cbg]

Any self-help options you can come up with should be encouraged.

Your situation has me curious. Where I work, ADA issues are handled by another office (not outsourced, still in house and under the same overall umbrella as my department, but in a different building completely separate from me) so I'm a bit out of practice. I used to be the one who handled them, but that was a decade ago and I suspect I'm losing some of the subtleties of the law.

Would you have any objecting to my posting your question elsewhere, where a number of HR professionals who manage ADA issues currently would see it?

 

[keiko12345]

Any self-help options you can come up with should be encouraged.

Your situation has me curious. Where I work, ADA issues are handled by another office (not outsourced, still in house and under the same overall umbrella as my department, but in a different building completely separate from me) so I'm a bit out of practice. I used to be the one who handled them, but that was a decade ago and I suspect I'm losing some of the subtleties of the law.

Would you have any objecting to my posting your question elsewhere, where a number of HR professionals who manage ADA issues currently would see it?

Definitely! I'm certainly willing to compromise.

I would welcome you posting my question elsewhere! Please let me know if you find out anything of value. Thank you!