Instances Where Employers Violate Disability Discrimination Laws

Employers are required to maintain compliance with the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to ensure equal access to employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Anyone with a physical or mental impairment should have the same rights and privileges for holding a position of employment that pays a fair wage and offers favorable advancement to support a career.

Unfortunately, some employers violate disability discrimination laws by denying people with disabilities the chance for employment, viewing an applicant unfavorably when learning of that prospective employee’s disability.

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Defining Disability Discrimination

Any physical or mental impairment that affects an individual’s ability to perform a major life activity should not interfere with that individual’s prospects for employment. State and federal employment laws prohibit discrimination based on an individual’s disability and employers who violate these disability discrimination laws are subject to penalties and fines.

Employees protected against employment discrimination under the law extend to both job applicants and individuals with disabilities holding positions of employment. Employers in the state of California with five or more employees are legally obligated under the Fair Employment and Housing Act to offer reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities to apply for employment opportunities and perform the duties of the job unless doing so would pose an undue hardship on the employer or the business.

Employers must also refrain from viewing any physically or mentally impaired job applicant unfavorably and provide a safe work environment free from harassment or discrimination against equal access for including that employee in meetings, work functions, and opportunities for advancement.

Examples of Disability Discrimination in the Workplace

There are many ways you can become a victim of disability discrimination by an employer. The law requires employers to be in compliance with the FEHA and ADA which includes:

• Private employers
• Employment agencies
• State and local governments
• Labor unions and labor management organizations.

If an employer has demonstrated any of these actions towards you or someone you know, it could be appropriate grounds for submitting a claim with appropriate state or federal agencies and filing a disability discrimination lawsuit:

• An employer declines to hire you due to your disability even though you are able to perform the essential functions of the job.
• An employer prevents you from sitting in on meetings or attending business trips where someone of your position would be expected to attend and refuses to give you equal opportunity for promotion in the company.
• An employer fails to offer you fair compensation for someone in your position of employment, citing your disability as the main reason behind this decision when such an impairment has no effect on your ability to perform the work you’ve been hired to do.
• An employer denies your request for reasonable accommodations even if this request does not pose an undue hardship on the employer or the normal operation of the business.
• An employer fails to offer you alternative employment opportunities within the company if a request for reasonable accommodations represents a valid undue hardship on the employer or the normal operation of the business.
• An employer requests or demands that you disclose details about or discuss any aspect of your physical or mental impairment or disability outside of a request for reasonable accommodation.
• An employer fails to prevent a toxic work environment where a supervisor or boss, colleagues, or other staff/personnel/clients make derogatory comments, gestures, jokes, or other expressions that mock, ridicule, or single out your or another person’s physical impairment, mental health conditions, or developmental disabilities.
• An employer terminates you soon after your requests for reasonable accommodations, citing performance issues.

Rights of Individuals with Physical or Mental Impairment in the Workplace

The above examples of employers violating disability discrimination laws are not uncommon. Many of these instances continue to take place. The FEHA prohibits discrimination in the workplace and protects individuals to ensure they are given access to safe and affordable housing. Federal laws under the ADA and through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are clear in the rights provided to qualified individuals with disabilities.

• People with disabilities are shielded from employment discrimination under state and federal laws.
• People with disabilities have no obligation to inform a prospective employer of their disability or impairment during the application process or after being hired to fill the position, even if a request for reasonable accommodation is made at that time or later.
• People with disabilities can not be subject to ridicule, harassment, retaliation, demoted from a position, or be compensated less as a result of their disability.
• People with disabilities are protected from frivolous or unnecessary questions or medical inquiries about their impairment or disability.
• People with disabilities have the right to request reasonable accommodations to support their ability to perform the work they have been hired to do.

How Reasonable Accommodation Requests Work

Any qualified employee with a disability has the right under the FEHA and ADA to request a reasonable accommodation that enables you to perform the essential functions of your job or safeguards your health while present in the workplace. These rights extend to job applicants and hired employees with qualifying disabilities who need to make changes in the job itself or the workplace environment to enable an employee to perform the work and enjoy the same benefits of employment as their colleagues.

A doctor’s note or any other corroborating medical documents need only be submitted to a boss, a supervisor, or the human resources department. This information must be kept confidential and not be revealed to the public or any other co-workers or personnel within the company.

Qualifying Physical and Mental Impairments

Employers must understand that disability can be defined rather broadly in the state of California, with a range of both discernible and inconspicuous physical or mental impairments protected by the FEHA and the ADA.

In the case of the former, physical impairments that qualify are those in which an individual’s mobility has been impacted as a result. These impairments may be present in the lower body and the individual requires the use of a cane, a walker, or wheelchair in order to move around freely or the upper body in which the individual has little to no functionality in his or her upper extremities.

Such impairments may include the following:

• Amputation
• Arthritis
• Cerebral palsy
• Heart conditions
• Multiple sclerosis
• Muscular dystrophy
• Spinal cord injury
• Stroke

In the case of the latter, mental impairments such as the following qualify for reasonable accommodations:

• Anxiety
• Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Bipolar disorder
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Psychosis
• Schizophrenia

Job applicants and employees who have been diagnosed with these and other qualifying physical or mental impairments are protected from discrimination in the workplace under the law.

Accommodations for Temporary Illness or Injury

Employees who have been diagnosed with illness or sustained an injury and request reasonable accommodations related to those conditions may still be protected against workplace disability discrimination under the FEHA and ADA.

However, this is where things can get murky as some illnesses or injuries do qualify while others may not be covered by law. An employee diagnosed with a temporary illness or injury may qualify for protections if that illness or injury is a chronic condition in which the symptoms are apparent and recurring from time to time.

Most conditions that are temporary and don’t present persisting symptoms or have a recurring impact on the overall health and well-being of the individual are not covered. But this can be determined on a case-by-case basis as the FEHA holds a broader view of qualifying temporary conditions than those protected by the ADA. Therefore, some temporary illnesses or injuries may be covered by workplace disability discrimination laws.

The following are some instances in which a temporary condition would be covered:

• An individual with a broken leg or broken foot in which mobility is impacted.
• Lingering back injury that impacts the individual’s ability to perform daily activities.
• Illness or injury that presents significant symptoms for six months or less.
• Conditions related to a pregnancy.
• Migraine headaches
• Diagnosis of serious, potentially terminal illnesses such as acute flaccid myelitis, polio, forms of cancer, and other life-threatening ailments.
• Chronic sleeplessness brought on due to a previous medical condition.

Examples of Reasonable Accommodation Requests

Employees can make reasonable accommodation requests which must be addressed by their employer in a timely manner under the law. The following are some examples of such requests:

Fixtures or Equipment Modifications

Changes or adjustments to fixtures and other facilities in the workplace to enable an employee with protected impairments to perform his or her job duties. These may include removal of obstacles that prevent an employee from moving around unimpeded or adding or changing existing facilities and/or work equipment to better accommodate an employee with a protected disability. This may require the use of a different size desk or the addition of special office equipment or accessories.

Work Schedule Modifications

An employee may request changes to his or her work schedule in the event a diagnosed condition prevents the employee from performing work duties during their current scheduled shifts. These changes to the work schedule can also accommodate an employee’s treatment schedule for his or her disability in the event such treatments require the employee to be absent for extended periods of time.

Delegation or Transfer of Job Duties

Employees may request that some job duties be delegated to others in the event an impairment or disability limits or restricts that employee’s ability to perform those duties. Such a request may also be granted by transferring the employee to another position within the organization for which the employee is qualified.

Assistant for Job Duties

An employee who requires an assistant to help him or her perform their duties at the workplace may be brought on as a means of accommodation.

Employee Training and Awareness

Specialized training of an employee with an impairment or disability may be required to help that individual gain a full understanding of the duties and responsibilities of their position of employment. An employee with an illness or disability may request that other employees and personnel within the organization are given educational training that raises awareness of that illness or disability. This is done to train others on how to respond in the event of an emergency and reduce stereotypes to help make the protected employee feel safe in his or her work environment.

Policy Exemptions

Employees who need to take additional or extended work breaks throughout the day can ask to be made exempt from workplace policies that limit the length and/or amount of breaks that employees are permitted to take daily.

When an employer violates disability discrimination laws, the employee has many options. The Law Office of Fahim Rahman has been fighting for the rights of qualified individuals with disabilities when their employers have violated disability discrimination laws and prevented them from participating in the opportunities their colleagues enjoy on a daily basis.