Hello
We have not had this exact issue, but have had requests for medical/disability reasons. I would suggest the person making this request reach out to your university ADA officer or ask if they have an ADA already in place. We also accept a note from an attending physician. If they are not able to provide, then they are responsible for the cost outside of the normal ticket price (economy class).

Hope this was helpful

Hi Rebecca,

JMU has run into this, not worded as discriminatory, but involving weight and height. We only allow for upgrades with a documented medical condition from a physician and has to be updated yearly. This is not attached to the expense report but noted on it with the documentation kept on file.

We would not cover the upgrade if a doctor did not provide a medical condition.

Hope this helps.

Tina

At Iowa State University, we had previously denied such requests due to a person's size. However, we have since updated our policy to state that if the employee wants or needs to purchase more than one seat due to size, the person's department would need to approve the extra cost in writing. The seats must be economy or coach class, and cannot be charged to federal funds. We also specifically state that medical notes are not required for this type of "upgrade."

Hopefully that helps!

Hi Rebecca,

At Virginia Tech, we have all travel accommodation requests vetted through our ADA Office. The ADA office will work with the employee to obtain any necessary medical documentation required for the travel accomomodation. If the travel accommodation is approved, the employee will note: "travel accommodation on file" on the expense for which the travel accommodation has been granted. We receive an updated list from our ADA office when someone is added noting what that accomodation is for. An example would be economy plus or business class seat for an airline ticket.

We have had requests due to height and weight but send all requests to the ADA office. If the request is due to height or weight and height or weight doesn't fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act then a travel accommodation is not granted.

Thanks,
Lynn

ECU follows those mentioned prior. Only with ADA Office and justification will we approve and reimburse for upgraded seats, etc. If they do not have the ADA, then unfortunately, they must cover those additional costs personally.