CVE ADA & Legal Compliance 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Olmstead v. L.C. Supreme Court decision is most relevant to vocational evaluation because it established that:
- Employers must provide on-site job coaches for all employees with intellectual disabilities
- Unjustified institutionalization of people with disabilities constitutes discrimination under the ADA (Correct answer)
- Sheltered workshops are an acceptable alternative to competitive integrated employment
- States must fund unlimited community-based services for all disability categories
Correct answer: Unjustified institutionalization of people with disabilities constitutes discrimination under the ADA
Olmstead held that states must provide community-based services when appropriate, reflecting the ADA's integration mandate that directly supports competitive employment goals.
Question 2: A vocational evaluator working with a client who is Deaf requests interpreter services from the employer during a job site assessment. This is best characterized as:
- An auxiliary aid and service required under the ADA (Correct answer)
- A personal service that the employer is not required to provide
- A modification of the job's essential functions
- A preferential treatment that violates equal opportunity principles
Correct answer: An auxiliary aid and service required under the ADA
Interpreter services are an auxiliary aid and service that covered entities must provide under the ADA to ensure effective communication.
Question 3: Which federal agency oversees compliance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, which requires affirmative action for people with disabilities by federal contractors?
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
- Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) (Correct answer)
- Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)
- Social Security Administration (SSA)
Correct answer: Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)
The OFCCP enforces Section 503, which requires federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to hire and advance qualified individuals with disabilities.
Question 4: A client's psychiatric condition is well-controlled by medication. Under the ADAAA, the determination of whether this person has a disability should be made:
- Based on their functioning while taking the medication
- Based on how the impairment would affect major life activities without the ameliorative effects of the medication (Correct answer)
- By comparing their function to others with the same diagnosis
- Only through formal psychiatric evaluation ordered by the employer
Correct answer: Based on how the impairment would affect major life activities without the ameliorative effects of the medication
The ADAAA requires that disability be assessed in its unmitigated state, without considering the ameliorative effects of medication or other measures.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes the 'essential functions' of a job position for ADA purposes?
- All tasks listed in the job description regardless of frequency
- The fundamental job duties that a position exists to perform, as distinct from marginal tasks (Correct answer)
- Any task performed by the incumbent at least once per week
- Functions designated as essential by the labor union contract
Correct answer: The fundamental job duties that a position exists to perform, as distinct from marginal tasks
Essential functions are the core duties a position exists to perform; marginal functions are not essential and may be reassigned as an accommodation.
Question 6: In the context of ADA and vocational evaluation, 'job restructuring' as a reasonable accommodation means:
- Eliminating the position and creating a new one for the individual
- Reallocating or redistributing marginal, non-essential job functions (Correct answer)
- Reducing the total number of hours the employee is expected to work
- Transferring essential functions to another employee permanently
Correct answer: Reallocating or redistributing marginal, non-essential job functions
Job restructuring involves reassigning marginal functions while preserving essential functions that the employee must still perform.
Question 7: A vocational evaluator notes in a report that a client 'cannot work in any capacity.' Under Social Security and ADA principles, this conclusion is most problematic because:
- Only physicians are qualified to make such a determination
- The ADA requires an individualized assessment of functional abilities relative to specific jobs, and blanket conclusions are inconsistent with this standard (Correct answer)
- SSA automatically disagrees with vocational evaluator opinions
- Such a conclusion must be endorsed by the state VR agency before it can be used
Correct answer: The ADA requires an individualized assessment of functional abilities relative to specific jobs, and blanket conclusions are inconsistent with this standard
Blanket inability-to-work conclusions conflict with both ADA individualized assessment requirements and SSA's vocational analysis framework that considers residual functional capacity.
CVE ADA & Legal Compliance 5
The Olmstead v.
L.C.
Supreme Court decision is most relevant to vocational evaluation because it established that: