Los Angeles Disability Discrimination Attorney

Experienced Los Angeles Lawyers Advocating for Disability Rights

If you suspect disability discrimination in the workplace, you may be able to secure relief under state or federal law. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires covered entities, including private employers, to provide reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability. This includes both applicants and employees, unless such covered entity demonstrates  the accommodation imposes an undue hardship.

Understanding Disability Discrimination in the Workplace

Proving Disability Discrimination: A Step-by-Step Guide

In order to prove a case of disability discrimination on a unlawful termination claim, an employee must show that:

1. His or her employer is subject to the Americans with Disabilities Act
2. He or she suffers from a disability within the meaning of the ADA
3. He or she could perform the essential function of his or her job with or without reasonable accommodation
4. His or her employer discharged him/her because of the disability

Eligibility Criteria: Who Qualifies as an Individual with a Disability?

For the employee to be eligible to make a claim of disability discrimination under the ADA or the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), he or she must be a “qualified individual with a disability.” This means that he or she must be able to do the job. For instance, a person with no hands would not be qualified to be a typist. (However, see below discussion on “reasonable accommodation.”) If the employer did not give him or her the job, it would not be discrimination. In this case, the person simply is not qualified.

“With a disability” means that the worker is actually disabled. For an injury, disease or their ailment to be a “disability” under the law, it must “substantially limit one or more major life activities.” A mere annoyance is not enough. The disability must actually interfere with a person’s life.

In determining whether or not a person actually has a disability, the courts pay close attention to whether or not the ailment affects the person’s job and ability to earn a living. So, even if the disability does not affect most areas of life, if it affects the person’s employment, the courts are more likely to consider it a disability.

Legal Protection Against Perceived Disability Discrimination

You cannot discriminate against a person you perceive to have a disability; that is illegal. If the employee is not disabled, but the employer believes he is and discriminated against him, that is also illegal. In this circumstance, it is not necessary to determine if the employee is a “qualified individual” with a disability. However, the court may consider whether or not the person would have been a qualified individual if he or she actually had the disability that the employer perceived him to have. The law is not entirely clear on this issue.