Activities Permitted Under ADA

B

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), individuals with disabilities should have equal access to goods and services offered by public accommodations, such as banks. The Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and requires businesses to make reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

Option A, issuing a policy against making loans to health care providers who regularly work with infectious patients, would likely violate the ADA if it resulted in discrimination against individuals with disabilities. This is because such a policy could potentially discriminate against individuals with disabilities who work in the health care industry and who are not infectious themselves.

Option B, prohibiting smoking anywhere in the bank building, is permitted under the ADA. Smoking is not considered a protected activity under the ADA, and prohibiting it would not discriminate against individuals with disabilities.

Option C, providing readers to visually impaired loan applicants for a fee, would likely be considered a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. However, charging a fee for the accommodation may be considered discriminatory. Banks are required to provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities free of charge, unless doing so would cause an undue financial burden.

Option D, requiring disabled depositors to use a teller window that is specially constructed for the use of disabled persons, may be considered a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. However, banks are required to provide access to all of their services to individuals with disabilities, and requiring them to use a separate teller window could be considered discriminatory if it results in unequal access to services. The bank may need to provide additional accommodations to ensure equal access, such as modifying the height of a regular teller window or providing an alternative method for conducting transactions.