What constitutes actionable harassment under the ADA?
The ADA prohibits offensive conduct that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a hostile or abusive work environment. Acts of harassment may include verbal abuse, such as name-calling, behavior such as graphic and written statements, or conduct that is physically threatening, harmful, or humiliating. The law does not protect workers with disabilities (or any workers) from merely rude or uncivil conduct. To be actionable, conduct related to an employee’s intellectual disability must be sufficiently severe or pervasive as to be both subjectively hostile and abusive (to the person) and to a reasonable person. Source: Questions & Answers about Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act (www.eeoc.gov/facts/intellectual_disabilities.html), EEOC.
