Disability Discrimination The unfair reality is that disabled individuals are often discriminated against in the employment context, because of negative attitudes and ignorance regarding their disabilities. Federal and state laws prohibit disability discrimination and require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled employees to perform the essential functions of their position.
Disability discrimination occurs in employment when disabled employees are treated differently from non-disabled employees. Disability discrimination may motivate hiring decisions, disciplinary decisions, termination decision, and attitudes about disabilities can influence perceptions of performance and conduct.
Moreover, if a disabled employee requests an accommodation for his or her disability, the employer is required to collaborate with the employee to attempt to accommodate the disability. Only where an employer can establish that an accommodation would constitute an undue hardship can it decline to accommodate a disabled employee's request for accommodation. To fail to grant a reasonable accommodate to a disabled employee also constitutes disability discrimination.
Whatever form disability discrimination may take in the workplace, it is unlawful.
Any employee suspecting that his or her disability has factored into an adverse employment decision should consider the possibility that the decision constitutes unlawful disability discrimination and should contact an employment lawyer.
