This Wisdom of the Crowd (ACC member discussion) discusses how to address an elderly employee's request to be provided with a scooter, and related questions pertaining to reasonable accommodation under the US Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and potential claims of unequal treatment. This resource was compiled from questions and responses posted on the forum of the Employment & Labor Law ACC Network. (Permission was received from the ACC members quoted below prior to publishing their eGroup Comments in this Wisdom of the Crowd resource.) This resource was published on February 8, 2017, and republished on April 7, 2023.
Question:
We have a 90+ year old employee who wants to continue to work, but has decided he needs a scooter.
There is no question that under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) purchasing a scooter for $700 would be a reasonable accommodation if we were to own the scooter, and my company has no problem whatsoever doing that. However, I am afraid we open ourselves up for a charge of unequal treatment if we buy the scooter for him to keep. (Although, I cannot imagine we will ever be in a truly comparable situation again.) If we front the money for him to purchase the scooter while he waits for Medicare approval, what kind of documentation would be required?
Wisdom of the Crowd:
Response #1: Have you concluded that you are required to purchase the scooter as a reasonable accommodation? The ADA does not require employers to purchase personal assistive devices, such as eyeglasses and hearing aides. It's my understanding that crutches, canes, wheelchairs and scooter are also Peripheral Artery Disease's and you are not required to purchase them. You may need to build a ramp for the scooter or address other access issues but I don't believe you are required to purchase such a device. We have declined to do so in the past, without issue. If you do buy one, I agree you may have an issue if and when another employee asks you to also purchase a scooter for him or her.1
Response #2: The scooter should be for use at work. If it's a personal device that he needs everywhere, then he needs to buy it. You could buy it for his use at work and then keep it for the next time someone needs one. I would not get in the habit of buying personal devices that the employees keep and use at home as well.2
Response #3: Buy the scooter for him. It is, of course, company property. Then, upon retirement, gift him the scooter. No one should blink an eye.The question I was expecting is the potential liability from accidents caused by or with the scooter.3
Response #4: Agreed -- buy it. As for on-site accidents, pure workers compensation, no? Either way, I think you're all set.4
_______________________________ 1Anonymous Poster (June, 2016).
2Jennifer Petersen, Associate Corporate Counsel, Werner Enterprises, Inc., Nebraska (Employment & Labor Law, June 3, 2016).
3Mary Garfein, General Counsel, Quisk, California (Employment & Labor Law, June 3, 2016).
4Steven Sheinberg, General Counsel and Special Assistant to the National Director, Anti-Defamation League, New York (Employment & Labor Law, June 4, 2016).
Region:
United States
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