Case: Disability Discrimination/Reasonable Accommodation (2d Cir.)

A federal district court in New York erred when it held that four Black New York City firefighters with a skin condition aggravated by shaving were entitled to the grant of their requests to wear short beards as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act because allowing them to do so would violate Occupational Safety and Health Administration policy governing the fit of respirators, the Second Circuit ruled. New York law requires that the FDNY comply with the regulations set by OSHA for the fit of respirators like those used by New York City firefighters, which forbid facial ...