NYC Cancer Discrimination Attorney

New York City Workers Should Not Face Cancer Disability Discrimination

Many qualified people who are disabled by cancer or who have a history of cancer want to keep working, even though they have certain limitations or need slight changes to the workplace in order to do so. Federal, state and local laws protect these individuals so long as they’re qualified for the job and what they’re requesting doesn’t present an undue hardship. If you believe you faced cancer disability discrimination, you should call the tenacious New York City employment discrimination attorneys of Phillips & Associates. We seek the best results for each and every one of the disabled workers we represent. We’ve recovered millions for clients in employment discrimination lawsuits.

Call Phillips & Associates About Your Cancer Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

Cancer disability discrimination happens when an employer treats a worker adversely or unequally based only on their medical condition. Unfair or illegal treatment may be based on a worker’s actual cancer, a history of cancer, or the perception that he or she has cancer. Under federal, state and local laws, cancer is considered a disability. Your employer can’t discriminate against you based on your cancer, though you do need to be qualified for the job in question.

The federal law that prohibits cancer discrimination is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If your employer has at least 15 employees, it cannot discriminate against you because of your cancer under this law. Adverse employment actions can include failure to hire, termination, failure to promote, harassment, failing to provide a reasonable accommodation when to do so would not present an undue hardship, or any other adverse job-related action an employer might take against you due to your cancer.

Prohibiting discrimination in the workplace due to cancer starts when the recruiting process starts. Employers are prevented from asking about your actual or perceived cancer or what treatment you’re undergoing because of it. For example, if an office rumor started that you have cancer, and your employer failed to promote you because of that rumor, you might have a cancer discrimination claim even if you didn’t have cancer.

The New York State Human Rights Law and New York City Human Rights Law also prohibit discrimination based on disability at smaller companies.

Reasonable Accommodations

Employers should provide you with a reasonable accommodation for your cancer if it has become disabling. If you ask for a reasonable accommodation after being offered a job, your employer will need to engage in an interactive good faith dialogue with you about what your limitations are, to see what kinds of accommodations might help. Your employer is not required to give you a reasonable accommodation if it would pose an undue hardship.

Under disability discrimination laws, reasonable accommodations are any change to your work environment or how things are typically done in the workplace, based on your disability. For example, if you need to take a different shift schedule because you are receiving chemotherapy, you may be entitled to the different shift schedule as a reasonable accommodation.

If your employer denies your request for a reasonable accommodation for your cancer, you may have a claim for discrimination. It’s important to talk to an experienced cancer disability discrimination lawyer about your situation. At Phillips & Associates, when consulted, we look at every potential avenue for relief. Under the New York City Human Rights Law, for example, there is a broader right to reasonable accommodations than there is under federal law. This law also protects workers at smaller organizations.

Remedies

The remedies to which you’re entitled if we successfully establish your employer’s liability include hiring the employee, reinstatement of the employee to an employment position, compensating the employee for lost wages, asking the employer to make accommodations, emotional distress damages, and requiring an employer to make accommodations.