Laws protect people in employment against discrimination based on race, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation and many other areas. The major piece of legislation that covers disability discrimination is the Americans with Disabilities Act. Part of the purpose of the act is to define who is protected by law and what constitutes illegal discrimination. Like most employment discrimination laws the hardest part of the process in determining if you have been affected is understanding the definitions. The definition of an individual with a disability, under the law, is one who has a physical and or a mental impairment that significantly limits one or more of life's major activities. Major life activities have been defined as those things an average person can do without a great deal of difficulty for example breathing, seeing, hearing, walking, working and the like.
Employment discrimination laws cover the hiring, promotion and firing processes. This which means, a well-qualified applicant cannot be denied fair consideration for employment. Current employees cannot be denied promotion or terminated on the grounds of their disability. Training, benefits, and employee compensation cannot be waived or in any way altered due to a disability. If an employee or applicant makes a claim of discrimination, they must first be a "qualified individual with a disability", which means if the person is disabled, they must be able to perform the job or task before they can claim they are being discriminated physically.
Under the law the definition of a qualified person with a disability, is someone who first and foremost that has the necessary skills, education or job experience and who can perform the work in question. As well as being able to perform the job you must be able to do so with or without reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodation can include making work places accessible for people with disabilities, job restructuring, a modified work timetable, extra unpaid leave, modifying equipment or having qualified readers on hand.
An employer complying with employment discrimination law is not required to lower normal production standards to make an accommodation, nor is he expected to provide personal items like eyeglasses or hearing aids. Employers are only required to provide reasonable accommodation and this gives employers an exemption or what could be seen as a loophole in the legislation. The requirement to make reasonable accommodations for a qualified candidate also means they are not obligated to do so if it would cause undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business. In effect, undue hardship means anything that causes significant difficulty or expense when compared with the size of the business, the financial status and the businesses operation.
You, like me, may feel that you have been the victim of discrimination. Before making a final decision on whether or not to file a complaint, it is important to check all the existing statutes, both federal and state, related to this law as well as case law. This will ensure you chances of success.
