"This is necessary to ensure that employees have acknowledged the serious nature of COVID-19, importance of each individual’s knowledge of the risks presented by the virus, the need to monitor their own health, and the need to notify appropriate personnel if they are symptomatic and/or exposed and be tested if necessary," IU spokesperson Chuck Carney wrote in an email.
One section of the form asks if individuals have underlying conditions and will need an ADA accommodation for those conditions.
IU associate instructor Iris Bull checked yes in that section. She says she then received an additional Employee Accommodation Request form a day later.
That form asked to list all underlying conditions truthfully, or else be subjected to “penalty of perjury.”
“I felt afraid because I didn’t feel like I understood the repercussions of what that meant. It just sounded very scary. I felt like I was setting myself up to get in trouble," Bull said.
Bull said she won’t sign the contract until the university clarifies where the information is going and what the terms of the contract are.
"The Employee Accommodation Request is entirely optional and does not need to be filled out by an IU employee," Carney said. "Even if an employee seeks an accommodation, he or she may seek that out by discussion with a department head."
Carney said personal medical information is only shared between individuals and their department.
"Such strong language is used to indicate that these should be requests asked by those who truly need such accommodation," Carney said.
Bull said she wants to see more transparency in the language.
“I understand the logistical challenge facing my department," Bull said. "I don’t want to make it harder for them, but in some ways an ADA accommodation forces the issue in a way that my preferences may not. That’s really the concern.”
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