Who Title I Covers
Title I of the ADA prohibits employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. It covers all aspects of the employment relationship — from job postings and interviews through promotions, benefits, and termination.
A "qualified individual" is someone who can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation. The employer defines essential functions, but the determination is based on the actual duties, not the job title.
Official Standard
Covered Employers
Title I applies to private employers with 15 or more employees, state and local government employers, employment agencies, and labor organizations. The employee count includes part-time workers and is measured over the current or preceding calendar year.
Reasonable Accommodation
Reasonable accommodation is any modification or adjustment to the job, work environment, or hiring process that enables a qualified individual with a disability to perform essential job functions or enjoy equal employment benefits.
Common examples include modified work schedules, assistive technology, job restructuring, reassignment to a vacant position, accessible parking, and allowing a service animal in the workplace. The accommodation must be effective but does not have to be the employee's preferred accommodation.
An employer can deny an accommodation only if it would cause undue hardship — significant difficulty or expense relative to the employer's size and financial resources.
Official Standard
The Interactive Process
Employers must engage in an "interactive process" with the employee to identify effective accommodations. Failure to engage in this process — even if no accommodation is ultimately provided — can itself be a violation. The employer bears the burden of proving undue hardship.
Hiring & Interviews
The ADA creates a three-stage framework for medical inquiries. Before a job offer: no disability-related questions or medical exams. After a conditional offer: medical exams are allowed if required of all entering employees. During employment: medical inquiries only if job-related and consistent with business necessity.
Employers may not use qualification standards, employment tests, or selection criteria that screen out people with disabilities unless the criteria are job-related and consistent with business necessity.
Official Standard
Pre-Employment Inquiries
Before a conditional job offer, employers may not ask about disability, medical history, or workers' compensation claims. They may ask about the ability to perform specific job functions. Post-offer, medical exams are permitted if required of all entering employees in the same job category. Information must be kept confidential in separate medical files.
Filing a Complaint
Title I complaints go through the EEOC, not the DOJ. The process begins with filing a Charge of Discrimination. The EEOC will investigate, and may attempt mediation or conciliation. Remedies can include back pay, front pay, compensatory and punitive damages (capped based on employer size), reinstatement, and reasonable accommodation.
Damages caps: 15–100 employees = $50,000; 101–200 = $100,000; 201–500 = $200,000; 501+ = $300,000.
Official Standard
Administrative Exhaustion Requirement
Unlike Title III, Title I requires exhaustion of administrative remedies before filing a lawsuit. An EEOC charge must be filed within 180 days (or 300 days in states with a fair employment practices agency). The EEOC investigates, attempts conciliation, and either files suit or issues a "right to sue" letter. The individual then has 90 days to file in federal court.
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