Employers are legally required to provide reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities to make their workplaces accessible and safe. However, some companies might attempt to evade compliance with these rules or treat an employee unfairly to avoid accommodating their disability.
Proving discrimination isn’t easy, but the skilled attorneys at Joseph & Norinsberg can help you build a strong case and stand up for your rights as a disabled employee. Contact us online or call 212-227-5700 today for a free consultation.
Steps to Prove Disability Discrimination
To prove discrimination based on disability, you must first establish you have a disability. Documenting your disability and how it impacts you forms a foundation for proving the discrimination you’re facing.
Then, you’ll need to show you were treated unfairly because of your disability. This could be a refusal to grant a reasonable accommodation, targeted harassment, preferential treatment of non-disabled co-workers, or other unfair actions or policies.
Document any incidents of harassment or violations of company policies or labor laws. Keep a chronological log of events and preserve any communications or other documents that might be relevant to your claims.
A disability discrimination lawyer can investigate, gather evidence, and ensure you have enough information to build a successful case.
What Evidence Do I Need to Prove Disability Discrimination?
Most disability discrimination cases use different types of evidence to paint a larger picture of unfair treatment. Direct evidence of discrimination, like a written message or recording, is not commonly available to claimants.
Without explicit proof, your claim must largely depend on circumstantial and comparative evidence. This includes showing that your other non-disabled co-workers received better treatment in similar circumstances or pointing to a history of unfair treatment by your employer.
Written notes and records can help establish circumstantial evidence of discrimination. Co-workers who witness incidents of harassment or other behavior might also be willing to provide statements corroborating your claims.
What Rights Do Employees with Disabilities Have?
Examples of Disability Discrimination
Disability discrimination can come in many forms. Examples of different types of disability discrimination include the following:
- Refusing to grant reasonable requests for disability accommodations, limiting your ability to access your workplace, benefit from training, and handle job-related tasks
- Retaliating against you for requesting a disability accommodation
- Unwelcome or offensive comments or jokes
- Physical or verbal harassment
- Making employment-related decisions based on disability status, including firing or refusing to hire or promote certain workers
- Refusing to allow you to take unpaid medical leave you’re entitled to under the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA
Your employer also cannot discriminate against you based on disabilities that your friends or family members have.
What Is Not Considered Disability Discrimination?
There are many instances in which your employer can take seemingly unfair actions that are not disability discrimination under the law. For example, employers can refuse disability accommodation requests that would be unreasonably expensive or disruptive to the workplace.
Your employer can’t require you to disclose a disability on your job application. However, it can make you take a medical exam as a condition of a job offer, as long as it does so for all applicants, regardless of disability status. If you request an accommodation and your disability is not clearly apparent, your employer may ask you for medical information or seek it from your doctor.
Your employer can also ask for medical information if it reasonably believes your disability might affect your job performance or harm others. Your employer may terminate you or rescind a job offer if your disability jeopardizes the safety of others in the workplace.
What Laws Help Protect Employees Against Disability Discrimination?
The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, is a landmark 1990 federal law establishing legal protections for those with disabilities, including workers. Under the ADA, all employers with 15 or more employees must give equal consideration to job applicants with disabilities and provide disabled workers with reasonable accommodations.
The New York State Human Rights Law protects workers from discrimination, harassment, and other unfair conduct based on several protected traits, including disability status. As of February 2020, the law applies to all New York employers, regardless of size.
Under certain conditions, the FMLA also entitles employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave if they cannot work because of a health condition.
How Can an Employment Lawyer Help?
If you have a disability and your employer has violated your rights, an experienced employment law attorney can help by investigating, gathering evidence to prove your disability discrimination case, and pursuing the compensation you deserve.
Joseph & Norinsberg has over 75 years of combined experience defending employee rights, achieving a 98 percent case success rate. Our extensive knowledge of employment law, detailed preparation skills, and dedication to working hard for our clients help us get results in even the toughest cases.
One of our significant wins in a disability discrimination suit was on behalf of a hedge fund executive who was wrongfully terminated because of his disability. Leveraging the threat of arbitration, attorney John Meehan secured a $3 million severance payment for our client, much higher than he would have otherwise received.
Contact Joseph & Norinsberg For Your Employment Law Cases
Our dedicated, tenacious employment lawyers are ready to take on your disability discrimination case and fight for you. We won’t back down until you get justice.
Contact us online or call 212-227-5700 today for a free consultation.
