Disability Discrimination
The attorneys at Callanan, Rogers & Dzida, LLP have years of experience dealing with the laws of disability discrimination, and have successfully represented numerous employees in disability discrimination.
Have you been a victim of discrimination in the workplace? The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA“) and the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA“) serve to protect employees with both physical and mental disabilities against discrimination. If you have a disability discrimination claim, you may be able to recover damages for lost wages, benefits, emotional distress and even punitive damages in some cases. The law requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to allow disabled people to perform a job’s essential functions.
What is Disability Discrimination?
It is unlawful to discriminate against qualified persons with disabilities in almost all aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, job applications, interviews, promotions, compensation, benefits, training, as well as other terms of employment. The law also protects individuals who are perceived to have either a physical or mental disability but who are not in fact disabled.
What Qualifies as a Disability?
Find a lawyer Typically employment in California is “at will.” What that means is that, unless your employer made a specific promise about the length of your employment in an employment contract, the employer can fire you or lay you off at any time with or without reason. However, as knowledgeable employment lawyers with years of experience, our attorneys know there are numerous reasons for which your employer cannot fire you. If they do, you may have cause to file a wrongful termination lawsuit.
- Quadriplegia, paralysis, spinal disorders and other mobility impairments.
- Blindness, deafness and other vision or hearing impairments.
- Cognitive and learning disabilities.
- Epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and other chronic illnesses.
- HIV, AIDs and other serious health conditions.
- Psychiatric conditions, including depression, severe anxiety, post traumatic stress, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia and various mental illnesses.
An Employer’s Duty to Accommodate Disabled Employees in California
An employer is required to make reasonable accommodations to assist an employee with a disability to perform the essential functions of their job – unless the employer can show that doing so would create an undue hardship (for example it involves significant cost).
- Leave time for a reasonable time and of definite duration if needed to cope with the disability.
- Adjusted work schedules to accommodate therapy sessions or medical appointments.
- Purchasing new computer aides or equipment such as special chairs or building ramps or wider doors to make them wheel chair accessible.
Elements of a Claim for Disability Discrimination
There are basic elements of a claim for disability discrimination in California are:
- The employee suffers from a disability.
- The employee was discriminated against because of the disability.
- The employee is capable of performing the essential functions of a job with (or without) reasonable accommodation.
The law also protects individuals who are perceived to have either a physical or mental disability but who are not in fact disabled.
If you suspect that you have been the victim of discrimination, have been wrongfully terminated or been denied accommodation as a result of a disability, you should contact us, so we can evaluate your matter and advise you of your rights.
For Robert Rogers: My wife and I are so grateful for all the help and support you gave us during a very difficult time in our lives. You are a great lawyer, but more importantly a great person, and I truly admire you.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for your professionalism, thank you for believing in me and financing my case without even knowing me. I think that your strategies produced excellent results, and I am delighted that I was referred to you and chose you to represent me. I want you to know that I also appreciate very deeply your patience with me. It was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot. I have the feeling (and I hope so) that you and I made a good team where open and honest communication was the norm.
Thank you so much for your priceless time and effort assisting all of us. Your letter without a doubt has caused (our opponent) to reconsider their unethical and unlawful actions of simply going through the motions (without) providing due process. I cannot thank you enough. I most sincerely and profoundly thank you for doing this for me.
I wanted to thank you for all of your incredible support through this stressful process. I could not have done it without you. Thank you SO much for your confidence, honesty and diligence every step of the way. People like you restore my faith in the justice system. It is intimidating as hell to stand up to a multi-billion dollar corporation especially after disempowering discrimination and the challenging times I faced after my injury. Thank you for all of your support.