Dis­abil­i­ty dis­crim­i­na­tion in the work­place is an issue that affects both employ­ees and employ­ers. With the Amer­i­cans with Dis­abil­i­ties Act (ADA) set­ting the legal frame­work, busi­ness­es must nav­i­gate rea­son­able accom­mo­da­tions while ensur­ing com­pli­ance. Employ­ees, on the oth­er hand, need to under­stand their rights and what steps to take if they expe­ri­ence dis­crim­i­na­tion. Let’s break it down.

What Is Disability Discrimination?

Dis­abil­i­ty dis­crim­i­na­tion occurs when an employ­er treats an employ­ee or job appli­cant unfa­vor­ably because of a dis­abil­i­ty. This can include:

• Refus­ing to hire a qual­i­fied appli­cant due to a disability.
• Fail­ing to pro­vide rea­son­able accom­mo­da­tions that would enable an employ­ee to per­form essen­tial job functions.
• Wrong­ful­ly ter­mi­nat­ing or demot­ing an employ­ee based on their disability.
• Harass­ing an employ­ee due to their dis­abil­i­ty or med­ical condition.

The ADA (42 U.S.C. § 12112) pro­hibits dis­crim­i­na­tion against qual­i­fied indi­vid­u­als with dis­abil­i­ties in all aspects of employ­ment, includ­ing hir­ing, fir­ing, pro­mo­tions, and job assignments.

What Qualifies as a Disability?

Under the ADA, a dis­abil­i­ty is defined as a phys­i­cal or men­tal impair­ment that sub­stan­tial­ly lim­its one or more major life activ­i­ties (42 U.S.C. § 12102). This includes con­di­tions like:

• Mobil­i­ty impair­ments (e.g., paral­y­sis, amputation)
• Chron­ic ill­ness­es (e.g., dia­betes, epilep­sy, mul­ti­ple sclerosis)
• Men­tal health con­di­tions (e.g., depres­sion, PTSD)
• Learn­ing dis­abil­i­ties (e.g., dyslexia)

Tem­po­rary impair­ments, such as a bro­ken leg, gen­er­al­ly do not qual­i­fy unless they impose sub­stan­tial lim­i­ta­tions over a long period.

Reasonable Accommodations: Employer Responsibilities

Employ­ers are required to pro­vide rea­son­able accom­mo­da­tions to qual­i­fied employ­ees unless doing so would cre­ate an undue hard­ship. Exam­ples of rea­son­able accom­mo­da­tions include:

• Adjust­ing work sched­ules or allow­ing remote work
• Mod­i­fy­ing job duties or pro­vid­ing assis­tive technology
• Mak­ing facil­i­ties acces­si­ble (e.g., installing ramps)
• Offer­ing sign lan­guage inter­preters or read­ing assistance

How­ev­er, employ­ers do not have to pro­vide accom­mo­da­tions if they would impose sig­nif­i­cant dif­fi­cul­ty or expense (29 C.F.R. § 1630.2℗). Courts eval­u­ate undue hard­ship based on fac­tors like cost, work­place size, and over­all finan­cial resources.

How Employees Can Request Accommodations

Employ­ees who need accom­mo­da­tions should:

1. Noti­fy their employ­er in writ­ing about their dis­abil­i­ty and request­ed accommodation.
2. Engage in the inter­ac­tive process—a back-and-forth dis­cus­sion to find a work­able solution.
3. Pro­vide med­ical doc­u­men­ta­tion if request­ed, but only if the dis­abil­i­ty is not obvious.
4. Seek legal help if their employ­er refus­es to accom­mo­date them with­out justification.

The EEOC v. Ford Motor Co. (782 F.3d 753 (6th Cir. 2015)) case rein­forced that telecom­mut­ing can be a rea­son­able accom­mo­da­tion if an employee’s essen­tial duties can be per­formed remotely.

West Virginia Disability Discrimination Laws

In addi­tion to fed­er­al pro­tec­tions, the West Vir­ginia Human Rights Act (W. Va. Code § 5–11‑9) pro­hibits dis­abil­i­ty dis­crim­i­na­tion in employ­ment. This state law applies to employ­ers with 12 or more employ­ees, pro­vid­ing broad­er pro­tec­tions than the ADA in some cases.

What Employers Should Do to Avoid Discrimination Claims

To com­ply with dis­abil­i­ty laws and min­i­mize legal risk, employ­ers should:

• Imple­ment a clear dis­abil­i­ty accom­mo­da­tion pol­i­cy and train HR per­son­nel on ADA compliance.
• Han­dle accom­mo­da­tion requests prompt­ly and in good faith.
• Keep med­ical infor­ma­tion con­fi­den­tial and sep­a­rate from per­son­nel files.
• Avoid mak­ing assump­tions about an employee’s abil­i­ty to per­form their job.

What Employees Should Do If They Experience Discrimination

If an employ­ee believes they are being dis­crim­i­nat­ed against due to a dis­abil­i­ty, they should:

• Doc­u­ment all inter­ac­tions with their employ­er regard­ing accom­mo­da­tion requests.
• File a com­plaint with the Equal Employ­ment Oppor­tu­ni­ty Com­mis­sion (EEOC) with­in 180 days of the dis­crim­i­na­to­ry act (300 days if state laws also apply).
• Con­sult an employ­ment lawyer if fac­ing retal­i­a­tion or con­tin­ued discrimination.

Conclusion

Dis­abil­i­ty dis­crim­i­na­tion is a seri­ous issue with sig­nif­i­cant legal con­se­quences. Employ­ers must han­dle accom­mo­da­tion requests prop­er­ly, and employ­ees should be aware of their rights under fed­er­al and state law. When both sides engage in fair and open com­mu­ni­ca­tion, work­places become more inclu­sive and legal­ly compliant.

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Drew M. Capuder

Attorney at Capuder Fantasia PLLC

Publisher of Drew Capuder's Employment Law Blog. Lawyer with more than 30 years of experience, focusing on employment law, commercial litigation, and mediation. Extensive trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts. Call Drew at 304-333-5261.

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