My employer says I will be unable to retain my job with a service dog. What should I do?

Several things come into play here. Under the ADA, the employee is required to ask for a reasonable accommodation. The employer is required to have an interactive dialogue with the requestor about the ramifications and any potential hardship the request may impose and then make a determination of availability of the accommodation requested. If you work in a food grade or pharmaceutical industry manufacturing operation or a patient contact area, the likelihood will be slim to none. The reasoning is potential contamination of pet dander, fecal contamination from the animals paws or coworker allergies. The company is not required to reassign the applicant to another job or transfer their responsibilities to someone else in order to accommodate. On the other hand, an employer can not automatically dismiss someone's request as a blanket rule. They have to consider each request on its own merits.

My first thought: have you REQUESTED reasonable accomodations. It MAY be that your employer is is trying to avoid that issue by telling you preemptivly that you have become unemployable. Unless the rules have changed, your employer is not obligated to make or offer reasonable accomodations (they may, but they're not required to). However, if you request that RAs be made, the employer must then explore possibilities.

That said, the "reasonable" part of RAs is an undefined term. It will vary from situation to situation. You say you're in Mental Health with direct patient contact. Your employer (how large is your employer? Major corp. or local provider) may be concerned, if something happens, would it expose them to some kind of increased liabilty (even if the presence of your service animal was not a factor).

Personally, I expect that the presence of a well-trained service animal would be a real asset greater than any hypothetical risk. But, it is the job of a Risk Management Dept. to think about those things.

My answer is "Take care of yourself." That appies regardless of the course of action you choose. I hope you and your employer can find RAs which satisfy everyone's concerns AND make you a better, more effective employee.

Praying for you!

ESGR sounds like a good place to start. Their job is making employers understand the laws, and how much they risk if they violate those laws. Once you talk to them I would sit down and seriously assess your disposition. Can you handle your job with out the service animal present? The system is there to protect us when we need it to, not merely because we can. There is no honor in pushing for an accommodation you don't actually need 24/7. IF you do need it, fight for it, you earned it.