Direct Threat to Health or Safety of Self

FEHA clearly provides that employees or applicants aren’t qualified if a disability poses a direct threat to their own health or safety.¹ California’s disability regulations require employers to engage in the interactive process prior to determining that an employee’s health or safety is at risk,² and the EEOC’s regulations on the ADA contain the same provision. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld this interpretation when it ruled that a job applicant wouldn’t be a “qualified individual” under the ADA if the job’s essential duties would pose a direct threat to the individual’s health or safety.

Following a case in which an applicant claimed he was unlawfully denied employment because