Remote Work Reasonable? Why the COVID-19 Pandemic Calls for a Reinterpretation of the Reasonable Accommodation Standard, and How Companies Can Respond

213 include telework, 5 or not, or somewhere in between, has the potential to change all this. 6 This Note will consider the effects of the shift to telework on individuals who are disabled. Because the telework workforce consists primarily of management, financial, professional, and other corporate-oriented jobs, 7 I will consider the effects of telework policies primarily on these populations, though I acknowledge that there is a large portion of individuals who are disabled who work in the service industry. 8 This Note will consider both the benefits and the drawbacks of telework for a wide range of physically, mentally, and emotionally impaired individuals. Part I will introduce the ADA and focus on the history of reasonable accommodations for disabled workers in the corporate workplace. Part II will explore the benefits and drawbacks of making telework a reasonable accommodation-or of a long-term company policy in favor of telework-the prospect of continued telework offers benefits and drawbacks to both the employees it is meant to serve, and to their employers. After analyzing these benefits and drawbacks of telework in Part II, Part III will consider whether working from home will be a reasonable accommodation under the ADA moving forward. The relevant statutory language, caselaw, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidances will be analyzed in answering this question. This Note will not advocate for making telework a wholesale reasonable accommodation; rather, it suggests that a telework accommodation may be appropriate for some employee-employer relationships in at least some instances, and detrimental in other