[blindlaw] Federal Hiring Processes and Accommodations

[Ronza Othman]

Hi,
I am the Chair of the NFB Blind Federal Employment Committee, a former
Reasonable Accommodations Coordinator, and currently an EEO Complaints
Director.  I'd say that the answers to your questions are complicated.
First, an agency can indeed require documentation from you of the disability
before providing accommodations.  That documentation should ordinarily be
from a medical professional, and while Voc Rehab letters are fine for
certifying disability for Schedule A, they aren't sufficient for reasonable
accommodation.  The complexity comes into play though when the medical
condition is obvious, and in those instances employers shouldn't require
medical documentation of obvious conditions - blindness is an obvious
condition by the way.  However, in pre-employment screenings and the
interview process, they don't know you and haven't seen that your condition
is obvious, so it's not so simple.  I'd refer you to the EEOC's Guidance on
Pre-Employment Screenings and Medical Examinations.  


Is it reasonable to ask for more time?  Definitely.  Is one business day and
two weekend days reasonable?  Probably not.  I'd say something like a week
to 10 calendar days is reasonable - because if your condition is obvious,
you should be able to get a letter from your doctor - and remember, it can
be any doctor - saying you are blind - diagnosis, prognosis, and limitation.

Ronza Othman, President
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
443-426-4110

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Cody Davis
via BlindLaw
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2019 3:50 PM
To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Cody Davis <cjdavis9193 at gmail.com>
Subject: [blindlaw] Federal Hiring Processes and Accommodations

All, 

Has anyone had any experience requesting accommodations in the federal
hiring process? 

I have applied for a paralegal position in a U.S. Attorneys office. Part of
the application requires taking multiple online assessments of various
kinds, some of which are timed and some of which, I think, include videos.
When I attempted to take the assessments myself, I found that my screen
reader had difficulty interacting with the assessment content. I am using
Voiceover on a Mac, and I tried using both Safari and Firefox browsers with
no success. 

I submitted the required form to request accommodations through the U.S.
Staffing Office several days ago. I included a Schedule A letter to document
my disability and need for accommodations. I was submitting the application
on the second to final day it was open, and the request for accommodations
had to be submitted by the job closing date, so I had to rely on the
Schedule A letter as it was the only documentation I had available to me. 

The US Staffing Office got back to me today to let me know that they need
further documentation of my disability, why that interferes with my ability
to take the assessments, what accommodations I am requesting, and how those
accommodations will enable me to complete the assessments. I have no problem
getting this documentation to them, but it will take some time. I received
the request today at 3PM and it gave me a deadline of June 16 by 3PM to
submit the additional documentation. A single business day and 2 weekend
days is not sufficient time to get documentation from a VR counselor or
medical professional. I have requested more time to submit documentation. 

Has anyone else had experience requesting accommodations for assessments as
part of a federal government job application?
If so, what documentation did you rely on and from whom did you get the
Documentation. I am wondering if a letter from my VR Counselor will be
sufficient. 
Finally, does anyone else believe the deadline they gave me for submitting
the additional documentation is unreasonable? 

I am grateful for any insight you all may have to share. 

Respectfully,
Cody Davis
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