Disability Accommodation Lawsuits Surged 42% in 2025: What It Means for Your Request

Federal disability accommodation lawsuits hit a record in 2025. Plaintiffs filed 6,796 cases alleging their employers failed to provide a reasonable accommodation, a 42% jump over the prior year, according to the Lex Machina 2026 Employment Litigation Report. It was the single highest year on record, and 2025 was also the first year ever with more than 20,000 federal discrimination filings overall (ABA Journal coverage).

If you are trying to get a workplace accommodation right now, that number matters to you for one reason: it tells you how the ground is shifting under employers, and what separates a request that gets approved from one that ends in a fight.

Key takeaways

• Disability accommodation lawsuits rose 42% in 2025 to a record 6,796 federal filings.

• The surge raises the legal cost to employers of mishandling a request, which is why well-documented requests are harder to deny.

• A lawsuit trend does not guarantee your request gets approved. Your employer still decides through the interactive process.

• The strongest protection is documentation built around functional limitations, not a diagnosis label.

Why the numbers are climbing

The Lex Machina report points to two main drivers: long-term health conditions tied to COVID-19, and a run of large damage awards that have encouraged more filings. Sitting underneath that is a structural shift. Millions of people moved to remote work, and the wave of return-to-office mandates that followed has pushed more employees to formally request accommodations they never needed to ask for before. When a request is denied without a genuine review, that is where disputes start.

For context on how widespread this has become, our 2026 demand report breaks down how RTO mandates are translating into accommodation requests across the country, and our guide to your rights under a 2026 RTO mandate covers the legal baseline.

One note to keep things straight: the same report also flagged a rise in Family and Medical Leave Act filings. FMLA leave and ADA accommodations are different tracks with different requirements, and WorkWell does not provide FMLA paperwork. If you are not sure which one applies to your situation, see FMLA vs ADA: Which One Applies. Everything below is about ADA Title I workplace accommodations only.

What a recent EEOC settlement shows employers

In February 2026, the EEOC announced that Geisinger Health and affiliated entities agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a disability discrimination and retaliation lawsuit (EEOC press release). According to the EEOC, the health system used policies that discouraged employees from requesting accommodations and forced employees returning from leave to compete for their own positions, which the agency said is not an accommodation. The consent decree required Geisinger to overhaul its policies and train managers on the ADA.

That case was years in the making and was not a remote-work dispute. But it shows the pattern the EEOC is enforcing: an employer cannot quietly discourage requests, refuse to engage, or treat a blanket policy as a reason to say no. Those are the exact moves that turn a denial into a lawsuit.

What this means for your request

The takeaway is not "sue your employer." Most accommodations are resolved without a lawyer, and they should be. The takeaway is about leverage.

When your documentation is strong, denying it becomes legally risky for your employer, and most large companies know it. When your documentation is thin, it is easy to push back on, and a quick denial carries little risk for them. That asymmetry is the whole game. For a deeper breakdown, see what an ADA accommodation letter should include.

There is a hard number that drives this home. From 2023 through 2025, employees who filed without a lawyer lost cases decided on the merits at a ratio of more than 40 to 1. The lesson is not that you need an attorney to request an accommodation. It is that the request itself, and the documentation behind it, has to be done right the first time, long before anything reaches a court.

A blanket RTO policy is not a legal reason to deny you

A common denial sounds like "our return-to-office mandate applies to everyone." Under the EEOC's 2026 telework guidance, that is not a legitimate basis on its own. A company-wide policy does not override the duty to assess each request individually and engage in the interactive process. The EEOC's underlying standard is set out in its enforcement guidance on reasonable accommodation and undue hardship, and the 2026 federal telework FAQ is here from OPM.

This cuts both ways, and being accurate about it protects you. The same guidance is clear that workplace anxiety alone does not create a general right to be free from all discomfort at work. The question is whether your symptoms impose a real barrier to an essential function of your job, and whether the accommodation you are asking for is what addresses it. If an in-office accommodation would work, your employer can try that first. Your documentation has to draw the line from your condition, to your specific functional limitations, to why the accommodation you want is the one that fits.

What "strong documentation" actually means

A note that says "patient has anxiety, please allow remote work" rarely meets the standard. Under EEOC guidance, sufficient documentation describes the nature, severity, and duration of the condition, identifies the major life activities it limits, explains the extent of those limitations, and substantiates why the requested accommodation is needed.

A formal written diagnosis is not the legal test. But the underlying condition still has to be a clinically recognized mental or psychological disorder, assessed by a qualified provider, not workplace stress or a preference for working from home. For more on that distinction, see do you need a diagnosis.

The EEOC recognizes a broad set of providers as appropriate sources, including psychologists, licensed mental health professionals, therapists, nurses, and occupational therapists. It is not limited to medical doctors. Why a psychologist's assessment tends to carry more weight than a quick primary-care note is covered in which credentials are best for an ADA accommodation letter. The U.S. Department of Labor's accommodation overview and the Washington University ADA accommodation resource are both useful starting points if you want to understand the framework before you request.

If your request has already been denied

A denial is not always the end. The ADA frames the interactive process as an ongoing dialogue, and an initial "no" can be the start of it rather than the conclusion. Ask for the reason in writing, supplement your documentation if they claim it is insufficient, and propose alternatives if full remote work was rejected. The full playbook is in your ADA accommodation request was denied: a step-by-step action plan, and the limits on what counts as a legitimate denial are in can my employer deny my ADA accommodation request. If your employer simply went silent, see what to do when your employer doesn't respond. For more on the rights you keep after a denial, this Medium guide covers it: your employer denied your remote work request, here are your rights under the ADA.

Where WorkWell fits

WorkWell Evals connects you with a PSYPACT-licensed psychologist who assesses whether your condition qualifies as a recognized disorder and documents its functional limitations in a workplace context. That is what the EEOC standard actually asks for. We do not guarantee that your employer will grant the accommodation. The decision stays with your employer through the interactive process. What we do is make sure the documentation you submit is built to the standard that makes a denial harder to justify.

If you want to know whether an evaluation makes sense for your situation, check your eligibility. Availability by state is on the states page.

FAQ

Does the rise in lawsuits mean my request will be approved? No. The data shows employers face more exposure for mishandling requests, but no evaluation guarantees an outcome. Your employer still decides through the interactive process and may consider undue hardship and alternatives. Good documentation improves your odds; it does not promise approval.

Do I need a lawyer to request an accommodation? No. You request it from HR, usually in writing, with documentation of your functional limitations. A lawyer matters only if a request is wrongly denied and you are weighing a complaint.

Does an RTO mandate override my ADA rights? No. A blanket mandate cannot be used to categorically deny requests. Employers must still assess each request individually and engage in the interactive process.

What makes documentation strong enough to avoid a denial? It describes the nature, severity, and duration of the condition, the major life activities limited, the extent of those limits, and why the accommodation is needed. Functional limitations are the test, not a diagnosis label.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Accommodation decisions remain with your employer through the interactive process. Consult a licensed attorney for advice specific to your situation.