UA disabIility policy under review

Susan Free, who coordinates ADA compliance for the University of Arizona, said the current policy makes disabled employees compete for other university positions if they are no longer able to perform their current job.

U.S. District Judge Alfredo C. Marquez questioned this standard two weeks ago, according to an Arizona Daily Star report Friday.

Marquez's ruling stemmed from a civil suit filed by a now part-time UA receptionist who was forced out of a full-time position after contracting carpal tunnel syndrome, the Star reported.

Free said she could not discuss the particulars of the ongoing case and limited her statements to the current UA policy, which determines whether employees with disabilities can effectively do their jobs.

"Employees need to be able to do their essential functions with or without reasonable accommodations," she said.

If not, the employee can be transferred to another position within their department with no competition, or be assigned to another department, Free said, adding a number of factors are taken into consideration before reassignment occurs.

"It is first determined that the disability is not temporary, and that it is a substantial limitation of a major life function," she said.

Then the department must attempt to modify the employee's work environment to counteract the disability, if possible. Such accommodations can include:

• Sign language interpreter

• Adaptive computer

• Special telephone equipment

• Specialized desks

• Work schedule changes

Free said if the disabled employee still cannot perform the job and there are no openings in their department, the employee is put on "priority status," which she described as being "laid off."

The questionable competition enters the picture at this point, as an employee must then apply to openings in other departments in competition with other job applicants.

Free would not comment on the opinion of the court and said the matter must be reviewed by UA attorneys, who were unable to be reached for comment Sunday.

Free speculated any changes would likely be in reassignment policies.

"The first and foremost goal," she said, "is to try to help them do the job that they are in."