When you, as a worker, have a condition that requires a workplace accommodation, that accommodation request should trigger many things, including an effort by your employer to engage in a dialogue to arrive at an accommodation that works for both sides. An accommodation request should not trigger reprisals like suspensions and constructive terminations (although, too often, they do.) If you have questions about your disability accommodation and your job, be sure to get the qualified information you need from an experienced New York disability discrimination lawyer.
A disability discrimination case from here in New York City illustrates an alleged example of an employer engaging in many forms of “what not to do” in the face of an accommodation request.
O.A., a clerical worker, was seriously injured in a bus accident in November 2022. A month later, he experienced a fainting episode at home, after which he requested remote work as an accommodation.
After eight months, the employer ceased offering remote work as an accommodation for the coordinator’s disability. The coordinator submitted an updated medical letter and a note from his orthopedic surgeon indicating his need for an accommodation. Nevertheless, the employer allegedly suspended the coordinator and constructively terminated him less than two months later.
Based on these actions, the coordinator filed a lawsuit alleging disability discrimination under the New York City Human Rights Law.
The employer filed a motion asking the court to throw out the coordinator’s case. That type of motion is common in civil lawsuits. Defendants often will file papers with the court requesting the judge either to dismiss the case or to award a “summary judgment” to the defense. Either way, if the defense wins this kind of motion, the case gets thrown out of court before even making it to trial, so, as a worker pursuing an employment discrimination action, you must be prepared to defeat this kind of motion.
In the coordinator’s case, the judge rejected the motion, meaning that the coordinator was entitled to continue his pursuit of his case. One essential procedural thing to know is that, at the motion-to-dismiss phase of a discrimination case, the employer can only succeed if the defense’s evidence and arguments “utterly refute” all of the worker’s relevant allegations or completely establish all the elements of a legal defense.
When a Resignation Is Not a Resignation
The employer based much of its argument around the fact that O.A. resigned. However, as the trial court noted, even if a worker submits a resignation letter, the end of his employment may still qualify as a firing. If a worker faces conditions on the job that are so intolerable that a reasonable person would believe he had no option other than to resign, then that potentially qualifies as a “constructive termination.”
Because O.A. alleged that his employer constructively terminated him, the fact that he resigned did not matter, and the end of his employment could still count as an adverse employment action.
Reasonable Accommodations and the Interactive Process
Another vital point the court highlighted was the importance of the interactive process in cases where a worker with a disability has requested an accommodation. The standards of the interactive process requirement require employers to engage in good-faith dialogues with workers to find reasonable accommodations.
In the coordinator’s case, the employer made the blunt argument that it satisfied its interactive process obligations merely by considering remote work (which it denied O.A.) The employer offered no proof that it considered any other type of alternative accommodations.
This type of “cursory dismissal” of a worker’s accommodation request is not good enough. As the judge put it, it “runs afoul of governing case law, which mandates that an employer must at least assess whether viable alternatives” are available. Because the O.A.’s case lacked any evidence that the employer engaged in this kind of “comprehensive evaluation,” the coordinator had a viable claim that his employer did not provide him with a reasonable accommodation.
If you have faced an employer who refused to consider reasonable accommodations for your disability or an employer who punished you for seeking an accommodation, you may be entitled to a civil judgment and award of compensation for the harm you suffered. For the advice and advocacy you need for this type of case, look to the skilled New York City disability discrimination attorneys at Phillips & Associates PLLC. Our team is highly experienced in these kinds of matters and fully equipped with the knowledge and diligence needed to get justice for you. To find out more, contact us online or at (866) 229-9441 to set up a free and confidential consultation today.