disability discrimination
Discrimination can take many forms, but it’s especially common for people with disabilities to be excluded from team-building activities and other office events because of their physical limitations. These types of actions can be a sign of discrimination or they may simply be the result of an unwelcome environment that does not support the needs of individuals with disabilities. Regardless, the person experiencing discrimination should be treated fairly and with respect.
disability discrimination laws protect people with all types of physical and mental impairments. A disability is defined as a condition that substantially limits one or more major life activities (such as seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, learning, working, and eating). The law also includes mental health conditions that cause significant functional limitation in any major life activity.
In addition to federal employment laws, state and city human rights laws protect workers with disabilities. These laws are typically more flexible than the federal law in terms of what constitutes a disability. However, the different laws can overlap in some instances. Therefore, when it comes to filing a discrimination claim, the individual should review both state and city laws to determine which will be most effective for them.
Can disability discrimination be justified?
The laws prohibit employers from discriminating against qualified workers with disabilities in hiring, firing, promotions, and other aspects of employment. However, the laws allow exceptions to this rule for situations involving undue hardship. Unjustifiable hardship can be based on the cost, difficulty, and disruption of providing accommodations or on the length of time it would take to implement accommodations that are effective.
To avoid disability law, an employer must engage in a good-faith process to identify reasonable accommodations that will enable the employee or applicant to perform the job duties effectively and safely. However, an employer does not have to make any accommodation that poses a direct threat of a substantial hazard to the safety or health of the employee, others, or the public. To establish a direct threat, the employer must have objective or medically supported evidence showing that there is a significant risk of substantial injury that cannot be eliminated or reduced by other means.
The EEOC has strict rules regarding when an employer can ask an applicant to answer medical questions or require a medical exam. This usually only occurs when the employer needs to see medical documentation of a current disability that could impact work performance or is considering a reasonable accommodation for a disability. The employer must keep this medical information confidential. If an employee is denied a promotion or is treated unfairly because of their disability, they can file a complaint with the EEOC. However, many workers choose to file a disability discrimination lawsuit with New York State or the City of New York under their respective Human Rights Laws, NYSHRL and NYCHRL. These laws have more relaxed standards than the federal ADA, which can give more people a chance to win their cases.