Employment Law Report
Second Circuit Clarifies Requirements for Accommodations Under Americans with Disabilities Act
By: Brandon Girdley
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently clarified requirements for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The March 25, 2025 opinion, in the case of Tudor v. Whitehall Central School District, explained that an employer may be required to provide reasonable accommodation to an employee, even if that employee could perform his or her essential job functions without the accommodation.
The case involved a teacher with PTSD, Angel Tudor, who requested accommodation in the form of a 15-minute break off campus during her scheduled prep period. Tudor had been receiving that accommodation, but in 2016, the school district changed its policy and no longer allowed teachers to leave school grounds. As an alternative, during the 2017–18 and 2018–19 school years, the school district granted Tudor one of her requested breaks in the morning, plus another break in the afternoon on days when another staff member was available to watch Tudor’s students.
During the 2019–20 school year, Tudor was assigned to supervise students during an afternoon study hall period. During that year, there was generally no staff member available to watch Tudor’s students during that afternoon study hall period so that Tudor could take her afternoon break. Nevertheless, Tudor took her break anyway and left campus on 91 out of 100 school days.
When the case came before the district court, Tudor admitted that she could still perform the essential functions of her job without the accommodation. On that basis, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of the school district. The Second Circuit reversed that decision, reasoning that the third element of a failure-to-accommodate claim—whether the employee was otherwise qualified to perform the essential functions of their job, with or without reasonable accommodation—did not require employers to provide only necessary accommodations. Instead, the text of the ADA requires reasonable accommodations to be provided to all qualified employees, even if the employee does not need the accommodation to do his or her job. The Second Circuit’s holding is consistent with similar holdings from the First, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, and DC Circuits.
