If you are a person with a disability, you inevitably want your employer to judge you on your work output, not your disability. Too many times, however, employers unfairly view employees with disabilities as liabilities and may resort to illegal means to root them out. If you are someone who has encountered illegal workplace discrimination as a result of your disability, the law potentially gives you various pathways to seek justice, including the Americans With Disabilities Act, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law. To get the right advice about how best to proceed, make sure to consult with an experienced New York disability discrimination lawyer about the specifics of your situation.
When a worker has a disability that impacts their job performance, their employer may respond in several ways that violate the law. For one thing, the employer may discriminate against the employee because of his disability. Another way that employers can run afoul of the law is by retaliating against the employee for requesting a disability accommodation.
A recent New York City disability discrimination and retaliation case offers an alleged illustration of both violations in action.
The employee, F.K., was a Ph.D. scientist who allegedly suffered significant injuries when a 200-pound machine he was moving fell on top of him.
The knee and back injuries he suffered in the accident required him to attend many medical appointments and physical therapy sessions. Although the scientist’s health insurer required the appointments, the employer’s head of human resources allegedly admonished him for “taking too many hours to go to medical appointments and physical therapy.”
The scientist gave his employer additional paperwork from his doctor regarding the medical necessity of the appointments. Nevertheless, the employer fired the scientist. In response, the scientists sued for disability discrimination.
Despite the employer’s arguments to the contrary, the court sided with the scientist in denying the employer’s motion to dismiss. If you are a person with a disability and pursuing a disability discrimination case, you should know that the hurdle the law imposes on defendants who file motions to dismiss is generally a high one. As long as you, as the plaintiff, put forward “sufficient factual matter... to state a claim... that is plausible on its face,” then the judge must deny the motion and allow you to continue pursuing your case.
The Elements of a Disability Discrimination Claim
For a disability discrimination claim like F.K.’s, a worker needs several things. He must demonstrate that: “(1) his employer is subject to the ADA; (2) he is “disabled within the meaning of the ADA”; (3) he is “otherwise qualified to perform the essential functions of [his] job, with or without reasonable accommodation”; and (4) he “suffered adverse employment action because of [his] disability.”
In F.K.’s lawsuit, neither side disputed that the employer was a “qualified employer” under the ADA, that the scientist had a legitimate disability, or that he was qualified to do the job he held.
Although not in dispute in F.K.’s matter, it is helpful to highlight what it means to be a “qualified” employer” or a person with a disability under the ADA. ADA law says that, to be a “qualified employer,” your employer must have 15 or more employees on its payroll. It also says that, to qualify as “disabled,” you must have “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities”, have a history or documented record of such an impairment, or be perceived as having such an impairment.
In the scientist’s lawsuit, the lone crux of the employer’s defense was that it did not fire the scientist because of his disability. The court, however, concluded that F.K. had presented a viable argument of discriminatory motive. By asserting that he missed work to attend essential physical therapy and medical appointments and that the employer admonished him for his attendance and, soon thereafter, fired him, the scientist had presented enough to “make it plausible that the medical treatment his disability required him to obtain was a but-for cause of his termination.”
The Three Prongs of Retaliation
The scientist’s allegations also made for a viable case of retaliation. To establish an arguable instance of retaliation, you must show that you (1) engaged in a protected activity, (2) suffered an adverse employment action, and (3) that a connection exists linking the protected activity as the cause of the adverse employment action.
In the scientist’s situation, he engaged in multiple protected activities, including making paid-time-off (PTO) requests to attend medical appointments and physical therapy sessions and providing the employer with his doctor’s note regarding the necessity of the appointments and therapy. The scientist also experienced a clear workplace punishment (termination).
One of the more common ways that workers with disabilities show the required causation linkage is through closeness of time. Suppose, for example, you tell your employer you have seriously injured your back and need time off to undergo surgery and recuperation. An hour later, your employer fires you. In that hypothetical, the close proximity of time between the accommodation (leave) request and the subsequent punishment raises an inference that, but for your protected request, your employer would not have punished you.
In F.K.’s lawsuit, on August 29, he asked his employer if he could apply his accrued PTO hours to his physical therapy and medical appointments. On August 30, the employer fired the scientist. The fact that the two events occurred just one day apart was enough to raise a viable argument that the request caused the termination.
If you believe you have been the target of illegal disability discrimination, there are several things you can do to protect yourself. One, document everything. Two, use the internal resources your employer has, including HR and/or compliance officers. Three, contact legal counsel. The diligent team of New York disability discrimination lawyers at Phillips & Associates PLLC has the knowledge and experience to help you with your case. Our team dedicates itself to defending workers’ rights and helping them to utilize their best options to get justice. To find out more, contact us online or at (866) 229-9441 to set up a free and confidential consultation today.