Tracie DeFreitas
Lead Consultant — ADA SpecialistTracie DeFreitas is a Lead Consultant for the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), the leading national source of free, expert, and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues. With more than twenty years of experience in the disability employment field, Tracie is one of JAN’s most senior consultants and has served the organization in various roles since joining the JAN team in 1994. She currently supports all specialty teams as a Lead Consultant and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Specialist, providing expert disability-related federal employment law and workplace accommodation consultation regarding a broad range of medical impairments and ADA issues. She is an experienced national speaker and author who specializes in ADA Title I compliance and the interactive accommodation process. Tracie is also trained in leave management.
During her early tenure at JAN, she served as Team Lead and Senior Sensory and Immunology Specialist, providing accommodation solutions for individuals with sensory, immunology, and endocrinology related limitations. Later 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 organization’s mission. Tracie engaged key, national disability and business stakeholder groups in the effort, including the U.S. Business Leadership Network (USBLN), Special Olympics, the National Business & Disability Council (NBDC), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), among others. She continues to serve in an advisory role 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 holds certification from the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) as a Certified Leave Management Specialist (CLMS).
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
- 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