Reasonable Accommodation for Faculty with Psychosocial Impairment: A Legal Analysis of the University's Duty in the US,the UK and Sweden

Abstract

This paper explores the university's duty to provide reasonable accommodation for faculty with psychosocial impairment in the US, the UK and Sweden. It argues that lawmakers and judges or decision-makers have not paid enough attention to particular needs of the psychosocially impaired. The problem is that when these psychosocially impaired are requesting a certain accommodation measure, this measure is often regarded as an unfair advantage (positive action), causes a disproportionate burden or is not in compliance with the university's academic standard. Despite the domestic anti-discrimination laws that prohibit the university from discriminating against the psychosocially impaired, they still encounter various barriers to pursue academic careers. Therefore, this article provides some suggestions on how to solve this problem.