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HR LibraryDisabilities and AccessibilityReasonable Accommodation of Disabilities

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Health Care Employee Threat to Others

In the health care industry, the court looks at a four-part test to evaluate the direct threat a health care employee with an infectious disease poses to others:

Nature of the risk — how the disease is transmitted.
Duration of the risk — how long the individual is infectious.
Severity of the risk — what is the potential harm to third parties.
Probability that transmission will cause varying degrees of harm.

In the case of an HIV-positive dental hygienist, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that while scientific evidence showed a small risk of transmission, the degree of harm to a patient should transmission occur is so great, it rendered the employee unqualified. The U.S. Supreme Court denied review.1

1. Waddell v. Valley Forge Dental Associates, 276 F.3d 1275 (11th Cir. 2001), cert.den., 122 S. Ct. 2293 (May 28, 2002)

Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities