Your agency's return-to-office memo did not repeal the Rehabilitation Act. If "everyone back, no exceptions" is medically unworkable, the law still has an exception with your name on it.
Southworth PC attorneys Shaun Southworth and Lydia Taylor walk the federal reasonable accommodation request start to finish — how to ask, what your agency owes you, the games to watch for, and what to do the day they say no. Treasury's civil rights office counted 6,500 backlogged requests, HHS projected six to nine months to clear roughly 9,000, and OPM's director estimates one in ten feds has a return-to-office exemption.
In this episode:
The Docket
- Is the federal-sector EEO process about to change? Unverified reports say leadership wants an overhaul — possibly including the guaranteed hearing right. Any change requires a proposed rule, and the statute's path to federal court stays. Also: AFGE has sued over the frozen class complaints. (As of the episode's August 3, 2026 date stamp.)
- OPM's appraisal overhaul is final and effective August 6: agencies may cap the top two rating levels, and grieving your rating of record is off the table. Lydia's move: build your performance file now — the Episode 1 playbook.
The Case File: The Reasonable Accommodation Request, Start to Finish The complete map, with telework as the example: starting the request (plain English — no magic words, no mandatory form, and the ask itself is protected activity), the medical documentation agencies can and cannot demand, the interactive process and why blanket "no exceptions" policies keep losing, and when delay itself becomes the denial. You'll leave knowing the one sentence to send when the agency asks for the same paperwork twice.
The Interview: Jodi Hershey, founder of EASE LLC Jodi spent 23 years in federal service, advising on thousands of accommodation requests from the inside. She's launching the EASE Foundation to fund advocacy and legal help for employees who can't afford it. Listen for her answer on whether "in-person presence" can simply be declared an essential function.
Ask Shaun & Lydia Anything
- "I asked for telework as an accommodation four months ago. My agency keeps asking for more paperwork, including records that I already gave them. Is this legal for them to do?"
- "My condition flares up unpredictably. My agency says on bad days I can just take sick leave instead of teleworking. Can they enforce that?"
Chapters: 00:00:00 — Cold open: the policy the law forbids 00:07:26 — The Docket: EEO overhaul & rating quotas 00:16:54 — The Case File: making the request 00:23:14 — Medical documentation: the limits 00:30:48 — The interactive process & blanket bans 00:35:34 — The decision: effective vs. preferred 00:44:05 — When delay becomes the denial 00:53:26 — The five-move playbook 00:56:07 — The Interview: Jodi Hershey (EASE) 01:20:25 — Ask Shaun & Lydia Anything
Resources mentioned:
- EASE Foundation: ease-foundation.org
- Job Accommodation Network (JAN): askjan.org
Have a question for the show? Email advocate@southworthpc.com or reach us through our social platforms. (We read everything; answering a question on air is general information and doesn't create an attorney-client relationship.)
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A quick note: This podcast is legal information, not legal advice. Listening does not make you a client. If something is happening to you at work, talk to a lawyer about your specific situation.
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