CDC Told Employees to Resend Accommodation Medical Records in 20 Days or Lose Their Case. Is That Legal?
Can your agency sit on your reasonable accommodation request for months, then tell you to resend your medical records in 20 days or lose your case and your interim accommodation? CDC just did. On August 20, CDC gave employees with pending accommodation requests 20 days to resubmit their medical documentation or have their cases "administratively closed," interim accommodations included, even if they had already sent everything. That deadline was September 9. As federal employment lawyers, we think that in many cases this approach will be found to violate the Rehabilitation Act. Here is why, and what to do about it.
What CDC's Notice Did
The notice put a 20-day clock on employees whose requests were already pending, some of them for a very long time. Employees who had previously provided complete medical documentation were told to provide it again. Those who did not meet the deadline were told their cases would be administratively closed, which would also end any interim accommodation they were receiving while the agency decided.
We do not know CDC's motive. We do know what the paper does. It closes cases without a decision on the merits, and if an employee later complains about the agency's delay, the file now says the employee was the one who failed to deliver. That is not a cleanup. That is a record written backwards.
What the Law Requires of the Agency
The EEOC's federal-sector regulation, 29 C.F.R. § 1614.203(d)(3), requires every agency to have written reasonable accommodation procedures that set the maximum time the agency has to grant or deny a request, with that clock starting when the accommodation is first requested. The same regulation requires agencies to provide an interim accommodation where possible while a request is pending, and it warns that failing to provide an accommodation promptly can itself violate the Rehabilitation Act. HHS's own policy points the same direction.
On documentation, the regulation allows an agency to request medical information sufficient to explain the nature of the disability, the need for accommodation, and how the requested accommodation will help. EEOC guidance is clear that once an employee has adequately documented the disability and the need, the agency cannot keep asking for more. Demanding that already-documented employees resubmit everything on a short clock, on pain of losing their case, is hard to square with that guidance.
Put simply: the agency set its own deadline, missed it by months, and the only clock now being enforced is the one on the employee. That is a Rehabilitation Act problem, not a paperwork problem.
A Closed Case Is a Denial, and the Clock Is Short
This is the part that matters most right now. If your case has been administratively closed, or your interim accommodation has stopped, treat that as a denial of your accommodation request. A denial starts your EEO clock. Under 29 C.F.R. § 1614.105(a)(1), you generally must contact an EEO counselor within 45 days of the action you are complaining about. Waiting to see whether the agency reconsiders can cost you the claim.
What to Do If You Received This Notice
Every case is different, but a few steps apply broadly. If you already submitted your documentation, resend it, and say in writing the date you first sent it. Keep every receipt, including the original submission, the agency's acknowledgment if you have one, and the August 20 notice. If your case was closed or your interim accommodation ended, contact your EEO office to start the counseling process, and do it within 45 days of the closure. If you are unsure whether what happened counts as a denial, ask a federal employment attorney rather than assuming it does not.
If you are at CDC or elsewhere within HHS and received this notice, you are not alone in it, and the delay was not your failure.
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Legal Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Federal employment situations are fact-specific and time-sensitive. Please consult a qualified federal employment attorney about your specific situation.