Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 796925.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 796925.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/796925.pdf ↗

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must be known or shown through an interactive process to exist in
fact and:
1. The impairment must have a substantially limiting effect upon the
individual’s ability to perform that individual’s job, the individual’s
ability to apply or be considered for a job, or the individual’s
access to equal benefits, privileges, or terms or conditions of
employment; or
2. The employee or domestic worker must have put the employer or
hiring entity on notice of the existence of an impairment, and
medical documentation must establish a reasonable likelihood
that engaging in job functions without an accommodation would
aggravate the impairment to the extent that it would create a
substantially limiting effect.

“The employee bears the burden of giving the employer notice of the

disability.” Goodman v. Boeing Co., 127 Wn.2d 401, 408, 899 P.2d 1265 (1995)

(citing Hume, 124 Wn.2d at 672). This notice requirement, however, does not

require the employee to inform the employer of the full nature and extent of the

disability. Goodman, 127 Wn.2d at 408. Once an employer is notified, it is “the

employer’s burden to take ‘positive steps’ to accommodate the employee’s

limitations,” although the employee also retains a duty to cooperate with the

employer’s efforts by explaining the disability and qualifications. Goodman, 127

Wn.2d at 408. Reasonable accommodation “envisions an exchange between

employer and employee where each seeks and shares information to achieve the

best match between the employee’s capabilities and available positions.”

Goodman, 127 Wn.2d at 408-09.