DID YOU EXPERIENCE DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION AT WORK? LET US EVALUATE YOUR CASE
People with disabilities fall within a protected class in the United States. Federal laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act are used to keep them free from employment discrimination. The term disability has a broad definition. Under federal laws, a disability includes mental impairments or a record of such impairments that hinders an individual from engaging in significant life activities. People with disabilities are often at risk of facing discrimination from the job application stage, recruitment, and even while already in employment.
Therefore, if you feel that your employer or colleague’s actions are discriminatory towards you, you can always institute a claim against your employer for breaching the provisions of employment statutes. Our employment attorneys in Los Angeles are well versed with the relevant anti-discrimination employment laws that have been instituted to protect people with disabilities. They can offer you the legal counsel you need to help you commence a compensation claim.
Disclosure of disabilities
During the recruitment stage, most prospective employees are vulnerable; hence they tend to be submitting to whatever conditions set by the prospective employers. However, you should know that no prospective employer is legally required to ask you to prove or disclose your disability as a means for job consideration. Therefore you don’t have to have been offered the employment opportunity to seek compensation for discriminatory treatment.
Some employers are known to use confidential information disclosed to prospective employees to deny them an employment opportunity. Suppose you or someone you know was denied a job due to a disability and need a lawyer. In that case, our Los Angeles disability discrimination attorney can offer you the legal counsel you need to pursue a successful compensation claim.
When can an employer ask you about your disabilities?
An employer can’t ask prospective employees about their disability during the job application and recruitment stage. The employer can be held liable for being discriminatory for inquiring about such information. If you have realized that the information about the disability you disclosed to an employer was the main reason you did not get a job offer, book a consultation today with a labor attorney for disability discrimination for an in-depth analysis of your case.
The only time an employer is allowed to ask you about your disabilities is after being offered a job offer. If the job requires you to perform certain functions, the employer is justified to question whether you can perform the jobs with or without accommodations. As a person with a disability, your employer is mandated to make employee engagement as bearable as possible.
It’s common for an employer to ask you for information regarding your disability to make proper arrangements. An employer can’t ask you directly about your disabilities, as this is against the law. To make your employment life easy, you must disclose some information about your disabilities to your employer out of your own volition. If an employer takes adverse action against you, like demoting you after disclosing your disability to them, such acts could be discriminatory. Always ensure that you get in touch with a Los Angeles workplace lawyer as soon as possible for consultation and case evaluation.
Should you prove your disability to your employer?
Some physical disabilities are apparent and don’t require any documentation. In contrast, mental disabilities are not obvious and might only crop up from time to time. Whatever the disability an employee or prospective employee suffers, an employer is barred legally from asking such employees to prove their disability.
The employer has to accommodate employees with their disabilities in situations where the disabilities are apparent. You can institute a claim against your employer if they refuse to accommodate you despite apparent disabilities. Employment attorneys for disability discrimination can help you get compensated for their inability to act.
When can an employer require you to prove your disability?
Mental disabilities are not apparent disabilities, and at times an employer might be unaware that you have a mental condition. As someone with a mental disability, standard working conditions might prove stressful to you. In cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, for example, symptoms might not be apparent.
You must inform your employer about your condition. Due to such disabilities’ nature, your employer will be justified to request proof of the alleged disability through documentation. The proof sought will be only to the extent of providing you with accommodation within the work environment. An employer can deny your request for accommodation if you don’t provide proof.
An employer can’t indulge in adverse actions against you after asking for reasonable accommodation. At times, negative actions might be hard to determine because they might be as little as mean jokes directed towards you. Such jokes can afterward escalate into harassment, demotion, and, worst-case scenario, termination of employment.
If you have reason to believe that you have been discriminated against at work because of your disability, get in touch with a workplace labor lawyer for the workplace for guidance on how you can bring a compensation claim.