How do I ask for a reasonable accommodation in New York?

Who does this apply to?

Employees and job applicants. The State Human Rights Law covers every employer in New York State, whatever its size (Exec. Law § 292(5)). The City Human Rights Law covers employers with four or more people working for them, for work in the City (Admin. Code § 8-102). The federal ADA covers employers with 15 or more employees (42 U.S.C. § 12111(5)). If you are pregnant, the same steps apply, and the federal Pregnant Workers Fairness Act and the State and City laws each require accommodation of pregnancy-related limitations; see pregnancy.

What should my request say?

• What you cannot do, or can do only with difficulty. You do not have to disclose your diagnosis unless it is needed to understand the request, but you do have to make the need known: under the State regulation the employee “must make the disability and need for accommodation known to the employer” (9 NYCRR 466.11(k)(1)).
• What would help. A schedule change, a different task, equipment, a transfer, time off with an expected return date. Vague requests lose: a doctor’s note hoping for “a less stressful position” was not enough in Pimentel v Citibank, N.A., 29 A.D.3d 141, 148–49 (1st Dep’t 2006), which granted the employer summary judgment over a dissent.
• No magic words. You do not have to say “accommodation.” A worker who told HR he needed “a couple weeks” to see a specialist could be found to have asked for leave (Graves v. Finch Pruyn & Co., 457 F.3d 181, 185–86 (2d Cir. 2006), vacating summary judgment on that claim).
• Put it in writing and keep a copy. An email to your manager and HR is enough. You can ask “at any time,” even if nothing has changed (9 NYCRR 466.11(k)(2)).
• Supporting information. The employer may ask for medical information needed to confirm the condition and consider the request, and must keep it confidential (Exec. Law § 296(3)(d); 9 NYCRR 466.11(j)(5)). The City Commission says the employer is entitled to documentation of the condition, the limitation and how the accommodation helps, not your whole medical file (NYC Commission on Human Rights, Disability Discrimination Legal Guidance).

Do I have to ask at all?

Usually, but not always. Under the ADA, an employer must accommodate a disability it “knew or reasonably should have known” about, even without a request (Brady v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 531 F.3d 127, 135–36 (2d Cir. 2008), affirming a jury verdict for the employee). Under City law the duty arises when the employer “has notice” you may need an accommodation (Admin. Code § 8-107(28)(a)). A worker who had repeatedly told her supervisors that her dyslexia made writing difficult did not need a formal request: the employer’s awareness “triggered a duty to engage” her, “even in the absence of a specific request” (Friedman v Bloomberg, L.P., 230 A.D.3d 1060, 1061 (1st Dep’t 2024), unanimously affirming the denial of the employer’s summary judgment motion). Asking in writing removes the argument.

Do I have to be unable to work without it?

No. Under the ADA, a person who can do the essential parts of the job without an accommodation can still be entitled to one. The Second Circuit held that the statute’s “with or without” reasonable accommodation means with or without, and that “[i]n at least some circumstances, the ADA requires an employer to offer accommodations that mitigate (if not necessarily eliminate) an employee’s disability-related pain” (Tudor v. Whitehall Cent. Sch. Dist., 132 F.4th 242, 246–48 (2d Cir. 2025), vacating summary judgment for the employer).

What must my employer do after I ask?

• Everywhere in New York State. The employer “has a duty to move forward to consider accommodation once the need for accommodation is known or requested,” must “clearly request” any documentation it needs, and may choose among accommodations that are effective (9 NYCRR 466.11(j)(4), (6)). The first step is “a good faith interactive process” (Hosking v Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Ctr., 186 A.D.3d 58, 62–63 (1st Dep’t 2020), affirming denial of the employer’s summary judgment motion). An employer “normally cannot obtain summary judgment on a State HRL claim unless the record demonstrates that there is no triable issue of fact as to whether the employer duly considered the requested accommodation” (Jacobsen v New York City Health & Hosps. Corp., 22 N.Y.3d 824, 837 (2014), reinstating the employee’s State and City claims).
• In New York City. The employer must engage in a “cooperative dialogue” with you “within a reasonable time,” give you “a written final determination identifying any accommodation granted or denied,” and may conclude that no accommodation is available only after that dialogue (Admin. Code § 8-107(28)(a), (d), (e)). Failing to engage is a violation of its own (§ 8-107(28)(f)). Before that rule, the Court of Appeals had held that the City law “unquestionably forecloses summary judgment where the employer has not engaged in a good faith interactive process regarding a specifically requested accommodation” (Jacobsen, 22 N.Y.3d at 837–38).
• Under federal law. The ADA regulations call for an “informal, interactive process” (29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(o)(3)). The employer may pick among effective accommodations, and if what it provided was plainly reasonable, skipping the process is not a separate violation (Noll v. International Business Machines Corp., 787 F.3d 89, 95, 98 (2d Cir. 2015), affirming judgment for the employer). But what it offers must work: a response, “even one that reduces the employee’s workload or addresses some of the employee’s needs, is not necessarily a reasonable accommodation” (Raymond v. 1199SEIU Nat’l Benefit Fund, 184 F.4th 42, 54–56 (2d Cir. 2026), vacating summary judgment for the employer). Skipping the process is not a separate ADA claim, but it can be introduced as evidence of discrimination, and an accommodation offered only if you drop your legal claims does not satisfy the process (Sheng v. M&T Bank Corp., 848 F.3d 78, 86–87 (2d Cir. 2017), a pregnant employee’s remote-work case, vacating a jury verdict for the employer on other grounds).

What if my employer says no?

Ask why, in writing, and ask what hardship the accommodation would cause. The State law excuses only an accommodation that “can be demonstrated to impose an undue hardship” (Exec. Law § 296(3)(b)), though under State law you carry the burden of showing that an accommodation would let you do the job (see who has to prove what). The City law says “[t]he covered entity has the burden of proving undue hardship” (Admin. Code § 8-102). If the refusal rests on a policy, see when the employer says its policy does not allow it. If the employer read your doctor’s note more narrowly than it was written and never asked the doctor, that dispute may be for a jury: where a note listed a lifting limit and a separate no-bending limit and the employer applied only the first, the Second Circuit held a jury could find the employer failed to accommodate and ended the interactive process (Tafolla v. Heilig, 80 F.4th 111, 120–25 (2d Cir. 2023), vacating summary judgment, over a partial dissent). Asking for an accommodation is protected: retaliating against you for it is unlawful (42 U.S.C. § 12203; Exec. Law § 296(7); Admin. Code § 8-107(7)).

What are the deadlines?

General periods only; when a period starts depends on the facts. An EEOC charge under the ADA or the PWFA is generally due within 300 days in New York. A State Human Rights Law claim can be brought in court within three years (CPLR 214(2)), or with the Division of Human Rights within three years for conduct on or after February 15, 2024 and one year before that (Exec. Law § 297(5)). A City Human Rights Law claim can be brought in court within three years (Admin. Code § 8-502(d)) or with the City Commission within one year (§ 8-109(e)). Filing with the Division or the Commission can bar a later lawsuit on the same claim (Exec. Law § 297(9); Admin. Code § 8-502(a)). See the deadlines on the main page.

What can I recover?

Lost pay, damages for emotional harm, and in many cases attorney’s fees. The State and City laws have no cap on damages; federal ADA damages for emotional harm and punitive damages are capped by employer size, and in an accommodation case an employer that shows good-faith efforts in consultation with you can avoid ADA damages altogether (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(a)(3), (b)(3)). See what you can recover.

What is unsettled?

• Is skipping the process its own claim under State law? Under City law it is (Admin. Code § 8-107(28)(f)). Under the State law, the Court of Appeals held in 2014 that the interactive process is not an independent element, though its absence usually defeats the employer’s summary judgment motion (Jacobsen, 22 N.Y.3d at 838). In 2019 the Legislature directed that the State law be construed liberally regardless of how federal law is read (Exec. Law § 300), and the Second Department has since said the amended State law “now aligns with the standards of” the City law (Wright v White Plains Hosp. Med. Ctr., 237 A.D.3d 1143, 1145 (2d Dep’t 2025), affirming summary judgment for the employer on a pregnancy discrimination claim). That was a discrimination case, not an accommodation case, and we are not aware of an appellate decision deciding whether the State law now treats a failure to engage as a claim of its own.
• Remote work. The City Commission treats every kind of accommodation, remote work included, as presumptively reasonable and rejects blanket “no remote work” rules (NYC Commission on Human Rights, Disability Discrimination Legal Guidance). Courts decide case by case. A record of doing the job remotely helps: a worker who had worked from home for two years and still did so two days a week plausibly alleged he could do the job with the arrangement he requested (Cangro v. N.Y.C. Dep’t of Fin., 183 F.4th 149, 161 (2d Cir. 2026), reinstating his ADA and City accommodation claims). That was a ruling on the pleadings, not a finding that remote work was required. On the other side, a teacher at heightened COVID-19 risk who asked to teach her at-home students from home lost her State-law claim because the employer considered the request, discussed it with her, and offered to let her teach the same students remotely from inside the school with safety measures, which she declined (Rosenberg v Nassau BOCES, 2026 N.Y. Slip Op. 04883, at *1–2 (2d Dep’t Aug. 5, 2026), affirming summary judgment for the employer). The employer chooses among accommodations that work, so a reasonable alternative offer can defeat a claim for the one you asked for.

What should I gather?

• Your written request and every reply, with dates.
• A note from your doctor describing your limitations and what would help.
• Your job description, and notes on how the job is actually done, including tasks others cover.
• Any policy the employer relies on, and any exceptions it has made for others.
• In New York City, the employer’s written final determination, or your written request for one.
• Your performance reviews from before and after you asked.