Tracie DeFreitas
Program Leader, Director of Training, Services, and OutreachTracie DeFreitas is the Director of Training, Services, and Outreach for the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), the leading national source of expert guidance on workplace accommodation and disability employment issues. Tracie has more than twenty-five years of experience in the disability employment field. She has served the JAN organization in various roles since joining the team in 1994, including as Principal Consultant, Lead ADA Consultant, Project Manager for the Campaign for Disability Employment (CDE), and Senior Sensory and Immunology Specialist and Team Lead. As Director of Training, Services, and Outreach, Tracie is responsible for directing the planning, design, and implementation of internal and external JAN training programs and outreach strategies. She also collaboratively manages the day-to-day operation of the JAN service to ensure that customer needs and organizational goals are met.
Tracie is an experienced national speaker and writer who specializes in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) title I compliance, the interactive accommodation process, disability-related inquiries, flexible work arrangements, and COVID-19 related accommodation issues. She also continues to serve in a consulting role for JAN, providing practical guidance and expert disability-related federal employment law consultation regarding a broad range of ADA issues and job accommodation situations. In her past role as Principal Consultant, Tracie served as ADA Specialist and led JAN’s ADA Team.
Tracie collaboratively developed and launched the Campaign for Disability Employment (CDE), a U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), award-winning national public awareness campaign designed to promote employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. She served as CDE Program Manager for four years and provided leadership, accountability, and management of resources necessary to fulfill the CDE mission. In this role, Tracie engaged key, national disability and business stakeholder groups in the effort, including the U.S. Business Leadership Network (USBLN) [now DISABILITY:IN], Special Olympics, the National Business and Disability Council (NBDC), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), among others. She continues to serve as an advisor to the CDE.
Tracie is a graduate of West Virginia University (WVU) with a Master of Science degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology. She has held professional certification as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and Certified Leave Management Specialist.
Publications
- Preparing for Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) Accommodation Requests
- Recertifying the Ongoing Need for Accommodation
- Your Accommodation Request Was Denied. What Now?
- Leave & Undue Hardship Under the ADA
- Making a Statement – About Reasonable Accommodation and Equal Opportunity
- Providing Temporary or Trial Accommodation Solutions
- Employment Testing and the ADA
- April Showers Bring May Flowers . . . and Seasonal Allergies, Too
- Service Animals and Allergies in the Workplace
- Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) as a Work-Site Accommodation for Individuals who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Articles
- Who Can Provide Medical Documentation for ADA Purposes?
- New JAN Accommodation and Compliance Series Training Video Released: Medical Information and the Interactive Process
- Recognizing an ADA Accommodation Request During the Pandemic
- A Practical Approach to Telework as a Reasonable Accommodation During the Pandemic
- ADA and Accommodation Lessons Learned: COVID-19 Edition
- Workplace Flexibility, the ADA, and Requesting Medical Information
- Mandatory Flu Vaccination Requirements 2.0
- Engaging in the Interactive Process During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Good Deeds Not Punished: Dispelling the Idea of Precedent Setting and the ADA
- Workplace Flu Vaccination Requirements and the ADA
- Recognizing an Accommodation Request Under the ADA
- The Path to Reassignment as an Accommodation
- Practical Guidance on Contingent Workers and the ADA
- Workin’ 9 to 5 – Not the Only Way to Make a Living
- Dogs in the Workplace
- Disability Awareness Resources to Foster Inclusion
- Long-Term Leave and the ADA after Severson
- HIPAA and Consent to Obtain Medical Information for ADA Purposes
- Changing a Supervisor as an Accommodation under the ADA
- Service Dog Breed Exclusions and the ADA
- Providing Temporary Accommodation Solutions
- Implementing a Workplace Fragrance Policy as an Accommodation
- ADA Leave Beyond FMLA
- Getting Over the Bump: Pregnancy at Work
- Tell 'Em About It: Educating the Workforce about the ADA & Accommodations
- To Ask, or Not to Ask? – Knowing When to Request Medical Information
- What to Include in Your ADA/Accommodation Toolkit
- Performance Management and Employees with Disabilities
- Overtime Restrictions and the ADA
- Out with the Old, In with the New…Supervisor
- Recertifying the Ongoing Need for Accommodation
- Requests For Medical Documentation and the ADA