§12113 Defenses

Summary

Lets employers or other covered organizations defend against a disability-discrimination claim if a rule, test, or hiring requirement that keeps out a person with a disability is shown to be needed for the job, important for the business, and the person cannot meet the job even with reasonable changes or help. A hiring rule can include a need to avoid putting others at serious risk to their health or safety. Employers may not use standards based on uncorrected vision unless those standards, as they use them, are tied to the job and necessary for the business. Religious organizations may hire or prefer people of their own faith for work tied to their religious activities and may require employees to follow their religious rules. The Secretary of Health and Human Services had to, not later than 6 months after July 26, 1990, review and publish a list of diseases spread by food handlers, explain how they spread, and share that info with the public. If someone has a listed disease that cannot be fixed by reasonable help, an employer may keep them off food-handling jobs. State and local public-health food laws remain in effect and are not overridden.