An estimated 45 million Americans are affected by some form of chemical sensitivity that may be triggered by something as simple as flowers, perfume or hand soap, according to MCS America. Because a chemical sensitivity may be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employer often has a duty to provide a reasonable accommodation when the employee’s sensitivity is aggravated by exposure to a substance in the workplace. However, there are limitations to an employer’s obligations in this regard, because the law recognizes that there is only so much avoidance that can be done before an employer would essentially be providing a bubble for an employee to work in. To ensure compliance with the ADA, employers should consider the following guidelines to make sense of their obligations regarding scents in the workplace.
Is Fragrance-Free a Reasonable Accommodation?
While there is no precise test for what constitutes a reasonable accommodation, courts consistently have held that an employee’s request for a completely fragrance-free or irritant-free environment is unreasonable because it involves numerous irritants and is generally difficult to enforce given the large number of scent-producing agents one finds in the workplace. Although an employer may have to provide some form of a workplace modification, the ADA does not require an employer to create a wholly isolated workspace for an employee that is free from potential irritants, because it would place an undue financial and administrative burden on the employer. It would essentially require the employer to prohibit all employees (and those who occasionally come into the workplace) of their right to wear scents. Several courts have explained that reasonable accommodations do not encompass proposed solutions that violate the rights of other employees, such as restricting their right to wear fragrances. It would also require the employer to identify and rid the workplace of many other common, scent-producing agents, such as cleaning supplies.
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