If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" didn't spring from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but it may as well have, as the law creates an ongoing obligation to reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with disabilities.

"Many managers are confused about how much they have to do and how far they have to go" when workers request accommodation, noted Sharon Rennert, senior attorney adviser at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
"It is imperative for employers and managers to understand that the reasonable accommodation obligation is an ongoing obligation," she said, citing Humphrey v. Memorial Hospitals Association (239 F.3d 1128 (9th Cir. 2001)). That ruling states that "the duty to accommodate is a continuing duty that is not exhausted by one effort."

The fact that you've provided one accommodation and it works or doesn't work "does not necessarily mean you're done," she observed. "Employers need to stay on top of" accommodation requests, according to Rennert, who said that employers should:

* Research possible accommodations thoroughly, checking first with the employee requesting accommodation, but also checking, for example, with the Department of Labor's Job Accommodation Network ((800) ADA-WORK), the EEOC, organizations representing people who have the same disability as the employee and the vocational rehabilitation agency.