Ask FELTG: How Do I Handle Accommodation Requests for Emotional Support Animals?

May 15, 2024

The following question recently came into Ask FELTG:

If an employee requests an emotional support animal as a reasonable accommodation, do we treat that the same as a request for a service animal?

And our answer: Thanks for the question. Any request for a reasonable accommodation (RA) should be considered independently, by using the step-by-step RA analysis we teach in our reasonable accommodation classes. Whether it’s a request you’ve received a hundred times (telework as RA) or one you’ve never dealt with (a request for an emotional support bird in the workplace), each RA request should be considered individually.

Depending on the situation, an emotional support animal may be a required reasonable accommodation for a qualified individual with a disability, even if it is not a trained service dog. If an employee requests an emotional support animal in the workplace, along with sufficient documentation of the disability and the need for accommodation, the agency must consider:

• Whether the animal would be an effective accommodation,
• Whether another accommodation would be effective, and
• Whether it would be an undue hardship to allow the animal in the workplace.

An agency may deny the request for an emotional support animal if it would not be an effective accommodation. How will you know if it’s effective? Perhaps run a trial period, and see how things go, similar to the case Meaghan F. v. Treasury, EEOC Appeal No. 2019005325 (May 20, 2021). The agency granted the complainant a 60-day trial period to bring her animal into the workplace. However, “during the trial period, Complainant had been removed from an assignment for being disruptive and unproductive and had failed to establish a schedule to care for the animal’s needs.” Id. at 10. Because the animal in the workplace did not allow the complainant to perform her essential functions, EEOC held the agency’s denial to allow the animal to remain in the workplace was valid.

Other instances of lawful denials have included:

• The support animal provided stress relief when the complainant was around strangers, but the complainant’s job did not require her to be around strangers. Struthers v. Navy, EEOC No. 07A40043 (Jun. 29, 2006).
• Another effective accommodation was provided – a phone that lit up when it rang and a light that alerted the complainant when someone was at her door. Vina D. v. USDA/FS, EEOC Appeal No. 0120150054 (May 25, 2017).

We have a lot more where this came from, so join us on May 23 for the 60-minute training Barking Up the Wrong Tree? Service and Emotional Support Animals in the Workspace. info@FELTG.com

Have a question? Ask FELTG.

The information presented is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Contacting FELTG in any way/format does not create the existence of an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice, you should contact an attorney.