ADA Direct Threat Rule: When Employers Can Restrict or Fire Disabled Employees

Employees and job applicants with disabilities are protected from discrimination by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the law, an employer can’t discriminate against you because of your disability, as long as you’re qualified for a job and you can perform the job’s essential functions, with or without an accommodation.

There is one major exception, however. The ADA allows employers to fire disabled employees if the employees pose a “direct threat” to the health and safety of themselves or others. While the direct threat defense is rarely used successfully to exclude disabled workers from jobs that they’re qualified for, it can help to know the basics of this rule in case you encounter it during your career.

What Is Considered a Direct Threat Under the ADA?

The ADA defines a direct threat as “a significant risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of the employee or others that cannot be eliminated by reasonable accommodation.” (42 U.S.C. § 12111(3) (2026).) Regulations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)—the agency responsible for implementing the ADA—provide further guidance, listing four factors that should be considered when determining whether an employee’s disability constitutes a direct threat:

• the duration of the risk
• the nature and severity of the potential harm
• the likelihood that the potential harm will occur, and
• the imminence of the potential harm.

These factors should be assessed using a reasonable medical judgment that relies on the most current medical knowledge and best available objective evidence. (29 C.F.R. § 1630.2 (r)(2026).)

Evidence Employers Must Document to Prove a “Direct Threat”

Keep in mind that an employee with a disability presents a direct threat only if there’s a significant risk of substantial harm to the employee or others—an intentionally hard standard to meet. Employers who make judgments based on stereotypes and generalizations won’t meet the standard of proof needed to satisfy the direct threat exception under the ADA.

For example, if you requested time off for treatment as an accommodation for your depression, your employer can’t fire you just because they think workers with mental health issues are likely to be violent. That’s a stereotype that doesn’t meet the ADA’s direct threat standard. Your employer is also prohibited from relying on general or outdated information about your disability to decide if you pose a direct threat.

Employers who’ve fired a disabled employee based on a “direct threat” finding should be prepared with documents establishing that an employee has functional limitations from their disability that can cause a significant risk of harm at work. This could include the results of a medical examination conducted by the employer’s own physicians as well as any safety logs showing actual incidents of harm stemming from the employee’s disabling condition.

ADA Direct Threat Analysis

While the statutory provisions can seem fairly straightforward, there’s often a lot of nuance once you see the law in action. Here’s an example to see how the “direct threat” assessment could play out in the real world:

Remember that the ADA requires your employer to make an individual assessment of your current situation, using reasonable medical judgment based on current medical knowledge or the best available objective evidence.

Your employer must also take into consideration how serious any potential harm may be and balance that with the likelihood that it will occur, using the four factor test outlined above.

Keep in mind that these four factors must be considered in relationship to each other. Generally speaking, the more dangerous a job is in general, the more likely that it is legal to fire a disabled employee under the “direct threat” rule.

When Reasonable Accommodations Can Reduce the Risk of Direct Threat

Employees don’t present a direct threat when the risk of harm can be eliminated or minimized through reasonable accommodations. Reasonable accommodations are changes to the job duties or workplace environment that allow employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job.

For example, say you have a seizure disorder and mostly work behind a desk, but you must occasionally drive to pick up office supplies. You might pose a direct threat if your seizure disorder prevents you from driving safely. But if picking up office supplies isn’t an essential job function, your employer could assign that task to another employee or use a delivery service to bring in the supplies. Such an accommodation would allow you to perform your job without posing a direct threat.

How Employees Can Challenge a “Direct Threat” Firing

If you believe you were wrongly fired (or not hired) because your employer believed your disability created a direct threat, you can file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. A charge of discrimination is a formal request that the EEOC investigate your employer for violations of the ADA antidiscrimination provisions.

You can provide evidence to the EEOC that can weaken your employer’s anticipated “direct threat” defense, such as your current medical records, workplace hazard assessments showing that your risk of harm is low, or communications with your employer where they expressed stereotypes about a medical diagnosis (like HIV/AIDS) that formed the basis of the firing.

It’s important to remember that the bar for a valid “direct threat” finding is very high, so it’s likely that unless safety is a major part of your job—you’re an air traffic controller, for example—your employer may be liable for an ADA violation. And if you’re successful, your employer may owe you for the amount of money you would have earned had you not been wrongly fired, along with other remedies.

Getting Legal Help for Your ADA Direct Threat Case

Before you file an EEOC charge, it’s a smart idea to get a disability discrimination lawyer on your side. Your attorney can help you decide what information to gather to support your claim that your disability isn’t a “direct threat” to workplace safety. Your lawyer can also assess your case to determine whether there were other ADA violations involved, which can in turn form the basis of a larger settlement. (For more information, check out our article on what do to when your employer discriminates against you for a disability.)