Factors Affecting Coworkers‘ Procedural Justice Inferences of the Workplace Accommodations of Employees With Disabilities

We examine coworkers' procedural justice inferences about the accommodation of another employee when they believe it is for disability‐related reasons. Legal constraints that prevent the release of information about the accommodation process may lead to negative inferences about fairness. However, we argue that other factors can help to make inferences about procedural justice more positive. We present a model of the process through which coworkers engage in making inferences about the procedural justice of accommodating a coworker with a disability and the individual and organizational level factors likely to influence those inferences. Consequently, we present propositions to be studied in future empirical research and suggestions to managers who desire to reduce negative coworker reactions to accommodating individuals with disabilities.