Workplace accommodations are not special favors—they are legal protections that ensure Michigan employees with disabilities can perform their jobs safely, effectively, and with dignity. When an employer denies reasonable accommodations or refuses to engage in the lawful interactive process, it threatens a worker’s livelihood, health, and future.

Both federal and Michigan law make one principle clear: employees with disabilities are entitled to equal opportunity and meaningful support at work. Enforcing these rights is not just a legal obligation—it is a matter of fairness and justice.

Attorney Scott Batey, founder of Batey Law Firm, has spent decades standing up for Michigan workers whose rights were ignored, dismissed, or violated. Known for his confidence, precision, and relentless pursuit of results, Scott brings nearly 30 years of employment-law experience to employees facing discrimination or denied accommodations.

When employers cut corners, break the law, or hope a worker will simply “tough it out,” Scott steps in to level the playing field—holding employers accountable and fighting for every dollar and every remedy his clients deserve.

Understanding Disability Accommodation Laws in Michigan

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The ADA is a federal civil rights law that prohibits disability discrimination and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees.

Who Is Protected Under the ADA:

• Individuals with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity
• Individuals with a history of such impairment
• Individuals perceived as having such an impairment

Employer Obligations Under the ADA:

• Engage in a good-faith “interactive process”
• Provide reasonable accommodations unless they cause undue hardship
• Avoid retaliation for requesting or using accommodations
• Refrain from discriminatory hiring, firing, discipline, or harassment

The “Qualified Individual with a Disability” Standard:
A person is “qualified” if they:

1. Meet the basic skill, experience, or education requirements of the job; and
2. Can perform the essential job functions with or without accommodation.

Michigan’s Persons With Disabilities Civil Rights Act (PWDCRA)

Michigan’s PWDCRA mirrors the ADA in many ways but is often broader and more employee-friendly.

How the PWDCRA Expands Protection:

• Applies to smaller employers than federal law may cover
• Offers additional state remedies beyond federal relief
• Provides a more flexible interpretation of “disability” in many cases

Key Differences Between the ADA & PWDCRA:

• The PWDCRA does not require the disability to “substantially limit” a major life activity in the same way the ADA does; the threshold can be lower.
• Michigan courts may evaluate essential job functions differently than federal courts.
• State law provides Michigan-specific avenues for damages and equitable relief.

Reasonable Accommodations: What Employers Must Provide

Common Workplace Accommodations

Employers may be required to provide accommodations such as:

Modified schedules or shifts
Flexible hours, adjusted start times, or part-time work when medically necessary.

Remote or hybrid work options
If core duties can be performed remotely, denying work-from-home arrangements without individualized review is unlawful.

Assistive devices or ergonomic adjustments
Items like ergonomic chairs, standing desks, screen readers, voice-to-text software, or other tools that support physical or cognitive needs.

Reassignment to a vacant position
If you can no longer perform your current role, an employer must consider transferring you to an open job you are qualified to perform.

Leave or extended medical leave
Employers often insist employees must be “100% healed” to return to work. That is illegal. Both federal and state disability laws allow medical leave as a form of accommodation—even beyond FMLA—when it does not cause undue hardship.

Examples of Illegal Employer Responses

Employers break the law when they respond to accommodation requests with:

Refusing to engage in the interactive process
Ignoring your request, delaying unreasonably, or refusing to discuss options.

Demanding medical details beyond what the law permits
Employers may request confirmation of limitations, but they cannot demand full medical records or irrelevant information.

Automatically denying accommodations without individualized assessment
Blanket policies—“We don’t offer remote work” or “We don’t adjust schedules”—are unlawful.

Retaliating for requesting an accommodation
Cut hours, discipline, PIPs, or termination after a request are classic signs of retaliation.

Forcing an employee out or terminating them instead of accommodating
If the employer’s goal is to “manage you out” rather than comply with the law, that is disability discrimination.

The Interactive Process: Your Employer’s Legal Duty

Once an employee requests an accommodation—in writing or verbally—the employer must begin the legally required interactive process. This is a two-way conversation meant to identify effective, reasonable solutions.

How Employees Should Request Accommodation

• A simple statement is enough: “I need an accommodation due to a medical condition.”
• You are not required to use legal terms or cite the ADA/PWDCRA.
• Though not required, written requests make your rights easier to enforce.

Employer Obligations During the Process

Employers must:

• Communicate promptly and collaboratively
• Ask only for the documentation necessary to confirm limitations
• Consider multiple accommodation options
• Evaluate each request individually

When Employers Delay, Deny, or Ignore

A slow-walked accommodation can be just as illegal as a denial. Excessive delay, stonewalling, or unreturned messages may establish:

• Retaliation
• Failure to accommodate
• Bad-faith handling of the interactive process

Documentation Employees Should Keep

To strengthen your case, maintain:

• Emails and texts requesting accommodations
• Notes from meetings or conversations
• Doctor recommendations
• Job descriptions or policy documents
• Any retaliation or negative treatment following your request

How Batey Law Builds Strong ADA/PWDCRA Cases

Gathering Critical Evidence

A successful ADA/PWDCRA case relies on proving what happened—and why. Batey Law collects and organizes the most persuasive evidence, such as:

Emails and text messages
Requests for accommodation, employer responses, delays, denials, and retaliation.

Performance evaluations and job descriptions
Used to prove you were qualified, performing well, and capable of doing your job with accommodations.

Comparator evidence
Showing how other employees without disabilities were treated in similar situations—an essential tool for proving discrimination.

Medical documentation & accommodation requests
Only what the law requires—nothing more. Used to validate the need for accommodation and expose employer overreach.

Proving Pretext

Most employers do not admit to discrimination. They invent excuses—“performance issues,” “attendance problems,” or vague “business needs.” Pretext is the legal term for exposing those excuses as false.

Batey Law proves pretext through:

Contradictions in employer explanations
When the stated reason doesn’t match the evidence.

Timing analysis
Discipline, write-ups, or termination occurring days or weeks after an accommodation request is often no coincidence.

Inconsistent treatment of other employees
Showing that rules were enforced only against you.

Policy manipulation or selective enforcement
Employers who suddenly change expectations or enforce rules more harshly strengthen your case.

Demonstrating Damages

A powerful case must show not just what happened, but how it harmed you. Batey Law pursues every available category of damages, including:

Lost wages and lost benefits
Back pay from missed work, lost bonuses, retirement contributions, or health insurance benefits.

Future wage loss
When discrimination or job loss affects future earnings, raises, or career path.

Emotional distress
Anxiety, humiliation, stress, and the emotional impact of being denied your legal rights.

Attorney’s fees and equitable relief
Reinstatement, accommodation orders, or changes in workplace policies.

What To Do If Your Employer Denied Your Accommodation

Steps to Take Immediately

• Document the denial or retaliation
• Request clarification in writing
• Save emails, texts, HR messages, and policy documents
• Consult your doctor about any workplace-related limitations or harm

What Not to Say or Sign

• Do not sign separation agreements, write-ups, performance plans, or resignations without legal review
• Do not admit wrongdoing or accept the employer’s stated reason for discipline
• Do not provide more medical information than required

Employers often pressure employees into signing away rights—don’t fall into the trap.

How to Safely Report Issues

You may report concerns internally (HR, supervisor) but do so carefully and in writing. Make clear:

• You requested accommodation
• You believe the denial or retaliation may violate the ADA or PWDCRA

This creates a protected activity record—critical for retaliation claims.

When to Involve an Employment Attorney

Contact Batey Law as soon as:

• Your request is denied
• Your employer delays or ignores you
• You experience retaliation
• You’re disciplined or terminated after requesting accommodation

Early legal involvement can preserve evidence, strengthen leverage, and often stop retaliation before it escalates.

Take Back Your Power

If your employer denied your ADA or PWDCRA accommodation—or punished you for requesting one—you do not have to face it alone. The law is on your side. You deserve a workplace that honors your health, respects your dignity, and follows the disability rights protections guaranteed under federal and Michigan law.

Attorney Scott Batey has built his career on fighting for employees who were silenced, ignored, or pushed out simply because they needed support. When your job, livelihood, or future is threatened, Batey Law is ready to step in with strategic, forceful advocacy.

Contact Batey Law Firm, PLLC

Batey Law Firm, PLLC
30200 Telegraph Rd., Suite 400
Bingham Farms, MI 48025

Phone: 248-540-6800
Website: www.bateylaw.com
Email: sbatey@bateylaw.com