We get free employee lunches at work every day. Ever since I got diagnosed with Celiac, I've had a problem with our chef, who refuses to answer my simple question "what's in it" and chooses to repeat over and over "no flour, it's OK for you." Well, this obviously hasn't worked too well, as I'm not about to give up my free meals at work and the chef occasionally makes a mistake and tells me the meal is gluten free even though it has soy sauce, modified food starch etc. After today's argument with him, where he advised me to bring my own lunches and stop asking him questions if I don't trust his simple "no flour", I've decided to do my research on ada.gov. I thought perhaps it could be helpful to somebody out there, so I'm sharing what I found out, including the letter I wrote to my director. Basically under the Americans with Disabilities Act we're entitled to enjoy benefits equal to those of an average, similarly situated person without a disability. In my case - free lunches. All I'm asking is for the kitchen staff to tell me "what's in it". I sure hope it works! Has anyone experienced anything similar and decided to do a formal request? I'd love to hear your stories!

I have been employed by the XXXXXXX as a XXXXXXX since January 2012 and according to the Employee Manual I am entitled to one free meal every day worked. I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease in July 2013 and have been following a strict gluten free diet since then.
As a person with a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), I am requesting reasonable accommodation to allow me to enjoy benefits equal to those of an average, similarly situated person without a disability.
I would like to continue enjoying the lunches that the XXXXXXXX’s kitchen staff prepares Monday through Friday. My only request is that I am informed about the ingredients of the meals. I need to be told what the ingredients are and whether any of the ingredients are pre-made, processed and/or packaged outside of the XXXXXXX, so that I can find and check the labels of such products myself, if packaging is still available. I do not expect the kitchen staff to know the details of the Celiac Disease and/or Gluten Free Diet and I do not request a meal especially prepared for me. I realize that following my diet is my responsibility only and all I ask for is information that the kitchen staff provides to the best of their knowledge, in a polite manner. That way, I will be able to make an informed decision.
I am open to any further discussion regarding the best timing of receiving the ingredient information, because I want to put as little burden on the kitchen staff as possible. I believe that this request doesn’t impose undue hardship on the XXXXXXXX and I estimate that agreeing with my request wouldn’t take up more than 1-3 minutes a day.