Federal Reports

The objective of our inspection was to review the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) administration of its reasonable accommodation program. This included determining whether reasonable accommodation requests were processed timely and in accordance with applicable policies and procedures. We found that improvements are needed in the Department’s processing of reasonable accommodation requests. Specifically, we found that the Department did not always process employee reasonable accommodation requests in accordance with relevant policies and procedures or maintain adequate documentation to allow for a determination of whether it complied with these policies and procedures, including those related to processing timeframes. In addition, we found that the Department did not adequately process applicant reasonable accommodation requests to ensure that accommodations were only provided to applicants with a qualifying disability. We also found that the Department does not have adequate processes to track and report on reasonable accommodation requests. The processes used by the Department do not ensure that all requests are captured, that data specific to the requests is adequately tracked, and that data is properly reported. We also noted issues with the quality of the data included in spreadsheets used by the Department to track and report on reasonable accommodation requests.

An Amtrak lead service attendant based in Los Angeles, California, resigned from her position on March 7, 2025, in lieu of an administrative hearing. Our investigation found that the former employee violated company policies by engaging in outside employment while on a medical leave of absence and continuing to receive Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) sickness and supplemental sickness benefits during that time, and by making false representations in support of her RRB and unemployment insurance claims. The former employee is not eligible for rehire.

An Amtrak electrician based in Chicago, Illinois, was terminated from employment on March 7, 2025, following an administrative hearing. Our investigation found that the former employee was arrested and charged with first degree murder and was on a medical leave of absence while incarcerated.