Disability Discrimination &
Failure to Accommodate
The Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) makes
it illegal for employers to
discriminate against
employees on the
basis of
disability. In other words,
employers are forbidden from
making decisions regarding
hiring, promotion, demotion,
termination, compensation,
job training, or other terms
and conditions
of employment based on the
employee’s disability,
history of disability, or
perceived disability. In
addition, the ADA
requires employers to
accommodate the known
physical and mental
disabilities of employees,
unless the accommodation
would
impose an “undue hardship”
on the employer.
Disability
(or “handicap”)
discrimination is also
prohibited under state law
and local ordinances.
Eligibility requirements for
claims based on “disability”
and “handicap” differ under
federal and state law. An
employment lawyer can
explain how these laws apply
to your situation.
Our firm has handled
numerous cases involving
disability discrimination
and the failure to
accommodate. Some cases
involve a combination of
discrimination and other
claims.
Generally, privacy concerns
and confidentiality
provisions in settlement
agreements prohibit us from
identifying cases, named
parties, and the existence
and terms of settlement
agreements. What follows are
a few examples of cases we
have litigated and/or
negotiated to a favorable
resolution.
Our client, a
laborer, suffered an on-the-job injury. The employer
refused to accommodate his
disability by providing
light duty work and claimed
that there was no light duty
work, even though the
employer had provided light
duty work to other
employees. No. 00 C
1922, U.S. District Court,
Northern District of
Illinois.
The employer put our client
on a performance improvement
plan and refused to
accommodate his disability
after he was hospitalized
for manic depression.
The employer refused to
accommodate our client’s
disability (MS) by allowing
her flex-time.
Denial of
intermittent leave:
The employer denied our
client intermittent leave to
obtain kidney dialysis, thus
failing to accommodate his
disability.
Disability discrimination:
The employer terminated our
client, a long term
successful performer, after
he received shock therapy
for depression.
The employer terminated our
client after he requested
accommodations for his
hearing impairment.
If you are concerned about
disability or handicap
discrimination, feel free to
contact us.
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