To confirm what was perhaps an obvious point, the US District Court of Appeals ruled that “a binding federal regulation is a complete defense of an ADA.” [American with Disabilities Act] Failure to meet the claim. “
In Bey v. The City of New York sought out black firefighters with a skin condition that caused pain and scarring while shaving, an amendment to the employer’s grooming policy that required firefighters to shave in areas where a respirator “seals” the skin. The employer refused the application, citing a binding regulation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which forbade any facial hair between the sealing surface of the mask and the face in order to ensure proper sealing. The employees sued for non-placement under the ADA.
The Second Circle stated that “[a]The core of this appeal is a question of the interaction between federal safety regulations and the ADA’s requirement that employers provide workers with disabilities with reasonable accommodation. ”The Second Circle stated that the regulation is clear and prohibits any facial hair in which the respirator seals against the face. It says in the Second Circuit: “A precaution is not reasonable in the sense of the ADA if it is expressly prohibited by a binding safety regulation of a federal authority.” This is also the case if the employer had previously approved the requested accommodation, as was the case was the case here.
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