Class 11 Legal Environment of Work: Employee Accommodations, ADA, and Title VII

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering employee accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII religious protections, pregnancy discrimination laws, and related employment law standards.

Content Validity

A test validation measure that examines the actual duties an individual hired for a specific job would be required to perform.

Criterion Validity

A test validation measure that evaluates the performance of current employees in relation to their scores on the test.

Construct Validity

A test validation measure that examines how effectively a screening test identifies and measures the specific traits desired for a position.

Hostile Work Environment Factors

Four major factors used to evaluate whether harassment creates a hostile work environment: frequency, severity, impact on the employee, and effect on work.

Prompt and Remedial Action

The standard of reasonable care that an employer must immediately take in response to coworker or customer harassment to avoid employer liability under state law.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress (IIED)

A legal claim requiring conduct so outrageous and intolerable under accepted standards of decency and morality that an average community member would exclaim 'outrageous!'; it excludes transient, trivial distress, or mere insults and annoyances.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Federal legislation prohibiting discrimination against individuals with mental or physical disabilities, requiring reasonable accommodations for qualified employees through an interactive dialogue.

Reasonable Accommodation

A modification or adjustment to a job, the work environment, or a selection process that provides an applicant or employee with a disability an equal employment opportunity.

Essential Job Functions

The fundamental duties of an employment position, evaluated by the EEOC through employer assessments, job descriptions, time spent, the necessity of the position, and the consequences of not performing the function.

Qualified Individual

An applicant or employee who has a qualifying disability and can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without a reasonable job accommodation.

Disability (ADA Definition)

A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment.

Substantial Limitation

A restriction compared to the general population that must be more than temporary (though intermittent limitations may qualify), assessed on a case-by-case basis without considering mitigating measures.

General Essential Job Qualifications

Baseline requirements deemed essential functions for any employee: regular attendance, no current illegal drug use, and presenting no direct threat to oneself or others.

Unreasonable Accommodations (ADA)

Accommodations employers are not required to provide, such as personal assistance on and off the job, removing essential job functions, lowering standards, excusing rule violations, violating seniority systems, granting unlimited leave, or violating federal regulations.

Undue Hardship (ADA Defense)

An employer defense excusing the provision of an accommodation, evaluated by the nature and cost of the accommodation, type of operation, and financial resources, personnel count, and operational impact on the facility and overall business.

Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)

A federal law that does not independently mandate accommodations for pregnancy, but requires employers to provide equal accommodations if similar modifications (like light duty) are granted to other non-pregnant employees.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)

Federal legislation that took effect on June 27, 2023, modeled after the ADA, requiring employers to grant reasonable accommodations to pregnant and nursing workers.

Religious Beliefs (Title VII)

Moral or ethical beliefs regarding right and wrong sincerely held with the strength of traditional religious beliefs, encompassing religious practices, observances, and the lack of religious belief.

Groff v. DeJoy

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling establishing that an employer asserting an undue hardship defense against a religious accommodation request must demonstrate substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business.