Tracie DeFreitas
Principal Consultant — ADA SpecialistTracie DeFreitas is a Principal Consultant and ADA Specialist for the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), the leading national source of expert guidance on workplace accommodation and disability employment issues. With more than twenty-five years of experience in the disability employment field, Tracie is one of JAN’s most senior consultants. She has served the JAN organization in various roles since joining the team in 1994, including as Lead ADA Consultant, Project Manager for the Campaign for Disability Employment (CDE), an award-winning national public awareness campaign, and Senior Sensory and Immunology Specialist and Team Lead. Tracie is a JAN senior leadership partner, leads the ADA Team, and also trains, supports, and mentors all other JAN specialty teams and employment specialists. She provides practical guidance and expert disability-related federal employment law consultation regarding a broad range of ADA issues and workplace accommodation situations. Tracie is also an experienced national speaker and published author who specializes in ADA title I compliance, the interactive accommodation process, leave management, and workplace flexibility.
Prior to being elevated to Principal Consultant, Tracie served as Lead ADA Consultant. She consulted with employers, human resources professionals, and legal professionals nationally on ADA compliance issues and engaging in the interactive accommodation process. Earlier in her career, 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. 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 & 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 a partner and advisor to the CDE. Tracie also previously served as JAN Team Lead and Senior Sensory and Immunology Specialist, providing accommodation solutions for individuals with sensory, immunology, and endocrinology related limitations.
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
- Leave & Undue Hardship Under the ADA
- Making a Statement – About Reasonable Accommodation and Equal Opportunity
- Requesting Accommodations for Employment Testing
- 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
- 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
- Here’s a Note from my Dentist
- Long-Term Leave and the ADA after Severson
- HIPAA and Consent to Obtain Medical Information for ADA Purposes
- Disability Disclosure and Employment
- Performance Management and Employees with Disabilities
- What to Include in Your ADA/Accommodation Toolkit
- To Ask, or Not to Ask? – Knowing When to Request Medical Information
- Tell 'Em About It: Educating the Workforce about the ADA & Accommodations
- Getting Over the Bump: Pregnancy at Work
- ADA Leave Beyond FMLA
- Implementing a Workplace Fragrance Policy as an Accommodation
- Providing Temporary Accommodation Solutions
- Service Dog Breed Exclusions and the ADA
- Changing a Supervisor as an Accommodation under the ADA
- Recertifying the Ongoing Need for Accommodation
- Annual Requests for Medical Documentation and Long-Term Accommodations
- Out with the Old, In with the New…Supervisor
- Overtime Restrictions and the ADA
- Requests For Medical Documentation and the ADA