Disability Discrimination

Your employer cannot treat you differently because you have a disability.

What is Considered a Disability?

Physical or mental condition that substantially limits a major life activity (such as walking, talking, seeing, hearing, sitting, standing, breathing and learning).

Common impairments that may qualify as a disability include asthma, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, heart conditions, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, mental illness, chronic back conditions, learning disabilities, and other mental or physical conditions.

Disability Discrimination & Work Situations

It is illegal for an employer to discriminate in any aspect of employment, including applying for a job, hiring, training, pay, job assignments, promotions, fringe benefits, layoff, termination and any other term or privilege of employment.

The law also protects people from discrimination based on their relationship with a person with a disability (even if they do not themselves have a disability). For example, it is illegal to discriminate against an employee because his or her spouse has a disability.

Disability Discrimination & Harassment

It is illegal to harass an applicant or employee because he has a disability, had a disability in the past, or is believed to have a physical or mental impairment.

Harassment can include offensive remarks about a person's disability and is illegal when it is recurrent or severe, creating a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the employee being demoted or fired).

The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.

Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship

The law requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to an employee or job applicant with a disability unless it would cause significant difficulty or expense for the employer. A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are usually done to help a person with a disability apply for a job, fulfill the duties of a job, or participate in the benefits and privileges of employment.

An employer is not required to provide an accommodation if doing so would cause significant difficulty or expense for the employer ("undue hardship") based on the employer's size, financial resources, and the needs of the business. An employer may not refuse to provide accommodation just because it involves some cost. An employer does not have to provide the exact accommodation desired by the job applicant or employee.

Note: Federal employees and applicants are covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, instead of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The protections are mostly the same.

If you have a disability and feel you have been subjected to disability discrimination, Henrichsen Law Group, PLLC’s employment law team is your partner in protecting your rights.  We are experienced at representing employees who have been discriminated against because of their disabilities. Our disability discrimination attorneys handle cases in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Florida, and Georgia.