Under federal law, most employers are legally required to treat disabled employees fairly. They must provide reasonable accommodations for disabilities and cannot discriminate against disabled people in hiring, promotion, and other employment decisions.
Yet some employers don’t follow the law, and the consequences can be severe. A recent lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is illustrative of this persistent problem: according to the EEOC, the employer first denied the employee’s request for remote work as an accommodation, then fired the employee for taking time off to go to medical appointments.
Understanding employees’ rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that applies to all employers with at least 15 employees. Under the ADA, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations for a qualified individual with a disability in the workplace.
It’s important to understand what those terms mean. First, a qualified individual with a disability is a worker who can still perform the essential functions of the job, with or without accommodations. Often, disability discrimination and retaliation lawsuits involve disputes over whether the employee could actually perform the essential functions of the job—and, for that matter, what the essential functions of the job even are. This determination is based on the actual duties of the job in practice, not just what’s written in the job description.
A reasonable accommodation is a disability accommodation that does not pose an undue hardship for the employer—that is, an accommodation that does not require significant difficulty and expense on the employer’s part. This is a case-by-case determination that may vary depending on the type of accommodation, the size and overall resources of the employer, and whether the employer already has structures in place to provide the same accommodation. For example, if an employer already allows some employees to work remotely, and a disabled worker requests remote work as an accommodation, it’s highly unlikely that this would be an undue hardship for the employer to accommodate.
Notably, the ADA does not generally require employers to provide the exact type of accommodation the employee requests. However, the employer must engage in an interactive process, in good faith, to try to find a reasonable accommodation that works for both employee and employer.
What is retaliation under the ADA?
The ADA also prohibits employers from retaliating against employees to retaliate against workers who try to exercise their rights under the ADA. Examples of legally protected activities under the ADA include:
- Requesting a reasonable accommodation for a disability.
- Utilizing reasonable accommodations granted under the ADA (such as taking leave to attend medical appointments or working a modified schedule).
- Reporting suspected disability discrimination or filing a complaint with the EEOC.
- Participating in an EEOC investigation into disability discrimination.
Retaliation is taking an adverse employment action against an employee in response to a protected activity under the ADA. Examples would include firing someone who requested an accommodation, refusing to consider an employee for promotion because they have disability accommodations, or harassing an employee who participates in an EEOC investigation.
Talk to an experienced employment law attorney about your rights
Again, despite longstanding federal laws protecting disabled workers, many employers continue to refuse to accommodate and even retaliate against workers. If you’re in that situation, you have legal recourse. You didn’t do anything wrong; you merely exercised your legal right to the same opportunity to work and succeed as everyone else. Our attorneys can fight for your rights.
The employment law attorneys at Gibson Law, LLC know the law and have a strong track record of results standing up for victims of disability discrimination and other types of employment discrimination. Give us a call or contact us online for a free case evaluation.