## Facts

- Kathleen Borkowski, a probationary elementary-school “library teacher” in a New York public school district, had long-term neurological impairments from a prior head injury, including problems with memory, concentration, processing multiple stimuli, and mobility.
- She disclosed her injury and continuing limitations during the hiring process and was hired to work at two elementary schools.
- Her job included both library responsibilities and teaching library skills to classes of elementary students.
- During her probationary period, administrators evaluated her negatively, citing difficulty with classroom management and handling multiple simultaneous stimuli.
- Borkowski asserted she could perform the position’s essential functions if provided a teacher’s aide to assist with classroom management and related supervision.
- The District declined to provide a dedicated aide, contending the request would fundamentally change the job or impose undue financial and administrative burdens.
- The District denied tenure and ended her employment; she sued under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act for failure to provide reasonable accommodation.
- The district court granted summary judgment to the District.

## Issues

1. Whether Borkowski produced sufficient evidence that she was “otherwise qualified” under § 504 because she could perform the job’s essential functions with a reasonable accommodation (a teacher’s aide).
2. How burdens are allocated in § 504 reasonable-accommodation cases: what the plaintiff must show to make a prima facie case and what the employer must show to justify denial (undue hardship or fundamental alteration).
3. Whether summary judgment was proper given disputes over essential functions, the aide’s proposed duties, and the accommodation’s cost and impact.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit vacated summary judgment for the District and remanded.
- The court held Borkowski raised triable issues that an aide could be a reasonable accommodation enabling performance of essential functions.
- The court held the District had not shown, as a matter of law on the summary-judgment record, that the requested accommodation was unreasonable, would fundamentally alter the position, or would impose undue hardship.
- The court declined to adopt a categorical rule that accommodations involving assistance from another employee are automatically unreasonable.

## Legal Principles

- Under § 504, “otherwise qualified” includes the ability to meet job requirements with reasonable accommodation; the accommodation inquiry is part of the qualification analysis.
- Plaintiff’s burden: identify a plausible accommodation and show it is facially reasonable—i.e., plausibly capable of enabling performance of essential functions.
- Employer’s burden (once the plaintiff meets the initial showing): produce evidence that the accommodation would cause undue hardship or fundamentally alter the position/program.
- An accommodation may involve assigning some tasks to others, but § 504 does not require eliminating or reallocating essential functions or creating a new position.
- Whether an aide is a reasonable accommodation is fact-dependent and commonly unsuitable for summary judgment where the record leaves disputes about essential functions and the accommodation’s practical and financial effects.

## Conclusion

The court required further factual development on whether a teacher’s aide would reasonably allow the plaintiff to perform the essential functions of a library-teacher position and whether the school district could lawfully refuse the accommodation based on undue hardship or fundamental alteration under § 504.


Borkowski v. Valley Cent. Sch. Dist., 63 F.3d 131 (2d Cir. 1995)