Elizabeth Booth, a quadriplegic, has been hired as an accountant to work in the billing department at Case Services Corporation. Booth, who uses a wheelchair for mobility, has trained her small, well-behaved dog to pick up small items that Booth has dropped. Along with a formal request to be allowed to bring her dog to work to assist her, Booth submitted to her employer a letter from her doctor stating that the dog would also help relieve Booth's stress. When Case Services' HR director denied the request, Booth immediately filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC, claiming the company did not provide a reasonable accommodation to her disability or her health needs.
When it comes to establishing a pet policy, as is so often the case, balancing the employer's needs and responsibilities with the employees' needs and wants presents something of a dilemma. Given what you have learned in Chapter 3 about equal employment opportunity, and the information presented in this case please answer the following three questions:
What is your position on this issue? Provide two or three reasons to support your argument.
If you were an HR manager of a company, what pet policy would you set and how would you implement it?
How would you decide the case of Elizabeth Booth, and which laws would you base your decision on? Explain.