Accommodating Transportation to Work: How Courts Fail to Protect People with Disabilities by Inconsistently Interpreting the ADA’s Requirements to Provide Reasonable Accommodations to Employees

Abstract

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has played a critical role in helping people with disabilities function with greater ease in an inaccessible world. However, it is not perfect and leaves many people without the accommodations they need. One of the many accommodations not directly and consistently protected by the ADA is transportation to and from work. While many Americans have enjoyed the work-from-home boom caused by the pandemic, there are many others that are forced to take remote jobs simply because they cannot secure safe and reliable transportation to and from work due to disability. This significantly narrows their employment opportunities and is discrimination. This comment discusses the creation of the ADA, its impact on Americans, and various circuit courts’ attempts to interpret it in the context of transportation to and from work. It also argues for an amendment to the ADA to clarify that transportation to and from work is related to one’s job and requires reasonable accommodation by the employer, leaving less room for interpretation and accommodations denied by the courts.

Recommended Citation

Kniep, Tara (2025) "Accommodating Transportation to Work: How Courts Fail to Protect People with Disabilities by Inconsistently Interpreting the ADA’s Requirements to Provide Reasonable Accommodations to Employees," Marquette Benefits and Social Welfare Law Review: Vol. 26: Iss. 2, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/benefits/vol26/iss2/4