California Law

05 Feb When Disability Discrimination Limits a Person’s Future Employability

Posted at 09:40h in Accomodations, ADA, California Law, CFRA, Damages, Disability, Disability Discrimination, Emotional Distress, Employment Discrimination, Failure to Accommodate, FEHA, FMLA, Long Term Disability, Loss of Employment, Loss of Income, Mental Disability, Physical Disability, Protected Categories, Short Term Disability, Work-Life Expectancy, Wrongful Termination

The cruel thing about disability discrimination, both for people who are already disabled or become disabled while employed with a specific employer, is that it is not easy to get another job, despite the fact that there are laws that prohibit disability discrimination for applicants for employment. It still happens and employers do get away with it, especially if the disability is obvious. If someone is wrongfully terminated because of disability discrimination, one could argue that the damage goes beyond the income they lost from being fired because it would be more difficult to find another job. Similarly, someone who is wrongfully terminated because of a disability could arguably experience substantial emotional distress, and in that case, emotional distress damages could possibly be recovered. If you have been wrongfully terminated because of a disability or a need for a disability accommodation, contact an employment lawyer today at the Khadder Law Firm for a free initial consultation....

01 Feb Suing an Employer for Failing to Accommodate a Disability

Posted at 09:35h in Accomodations, ADA, California Law, CFRA, Damages, Disability, Disability Discrimination, Employment Discrimination, Essential Functions, Failure to Accommodate, FEHA, FMLA, Life Expectancy, Loss of Employment, Loss of Income, Mental Disability, Protected Categories, Short Term Disability, The Rehabilitation Act for Federal Employees, Work-Life Expectancy, Wrongful Termination

In the instance when the employer refuses to accommodate your disability and you are put in a position where you have to sue, you may be able to sue your employer for your job back or damages? You may also be able to sue to get an employer to provide you with a reasonable accommodation and/or you can sue for your economic and emotional damages that result from discrimination or failure to accommodate. Most disability cases involve wrongful termination because of disability discrimination. In those cases, usually the remedy is to pay the wrongfully terminated employee their lost income, both past lost income for all the time up to and including the judgment at a trial, and then future lost income to a reasonable degree for any time after the trial judgment that a person may be without employment. It is important in a trial to show future lost damages or income. Usually the court will require an expert to discuss the various aspects of how to calculate the loss of income including your work-life expectancy and your life expectancy. That can get kind of complicated, but it is a recovery that may be available to an employee who is wrongfully terminated. If you have been wrongfully terminated because of a disability or a need for a disability accommodation, contact an employment lawyer today at the Khadder Law Firm for a free initial consultation. ...

23 Jan How specific do I have to be with my employer about what my mental disability is?

Posted at 09:26h in Accomodations, ADA, California Law, CFRA, Disability, Disability Discrimination, Employee Right to Privacy, Employment Discrimination, Essential Functions, FEHA, FMLA, Major Life Activity, Mental Disability, Protected Categories

Both the ADA and the FEHA don’t require an employee to disclose the specifics of their disability. You don’t have to provide your employer with a detailed diagnosis of your condition. However, your employer is entitled to know how your disability affects your ability to perform your job(s). One of the important reasons why an employer has a right to know how your disability affects your ability to perform your job is that employers have an obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation so that a disabled employee can perform the essential functions of his or her job. While your employer doesn’t have a right to know the name of what you suffer from, they do have a right to know what your disability limits, in terms of the essential functions of your job. If you have experienced discrimination by your employer because of a disability, or your employer fails to provide you with a reasonable accommodation for your disability, contact an employment lawyer today at the Khadder Law Firm for a free initial consultation....

12 Jan Differences between the FEHA and ADA

Posted at 08:58h in ADA, California Law, Disability, Employment Discrimination, FEHA, Long Term Disability, Mental Disability, Physical Disability, Short Term Disability

One difference between the FEHA (the Fair Employment and Housing Act) and the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) is that the ADA applies to all employers in the private sector that have four to fifteen employees, whereas the FEHA affects more employees, and it doesn’t distinguish between private and public employers like the ADA does. The Rehabilitation Act, which is a component of the ADA, protects against discrimination for both the Federal agencies and recipients of Federal financial assistance. It impacts the state public agencies as well. One key difference is that the ADA applies to employers with fifteen or more employees, and FEHA applies to companies with five or more employees. The rehabilitation act requires affirmative action to be used in employing people with disabilities, whereas the FEHA does not require affirmative action, and the ADA also does not require affirmative action. Probably one of the most important differences between the ADA and FEHA is that with FEHA, a disability is required. Under the ADA, to qualify for disability, a physical or mental impairment substantially limits a major life activity, but the FEHA requires only that a mental and physical disability limit a major life activity; not a substantial limit, but a limit. Another key difference in the ADA and the FEHA is in the amount of recoverable damages. The ADA limits the amount of compensatory and punitive damages that can be awarded for a disability discrimination claim. The FEHA, however, does not have any damages caps in civil actions. That’s an important difference. Generally, the biggest difference between the ADA and FEHA is that the ADA, under California law, constitutes the floor of protection. It is the minimum amount of protection that every state is required to follow. The thing about California, however, is that its disability discrimination laws are broader and more favorable to disabled employees than the ADA is. If you have a potential claim under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act, contact an employment lawyer today at the Khadder Law Firm for a free initial consultation....

15 Dec Degenerative Diseases: Must An Employer Keep You on Until You Are Unable to Perform the Essential Functions of Your Job?

Posted at 10:16h in Accomodations, ADA, California Law, Damages, Disability, Disability Discrimination, Employment Discrimination, Essential Functions, Failure to Accommodate, Hiring Preference, Protected Categories, Remedies, Wrongful Termination

It is important to note that if you cannot perform the essential functions of your job, even with an accommodation, then the employer does not have an obligation to keep you employed. This is where the accommodation requirement is essential - so that people who have disabilities or degenerative medical conditions will have reasonable accommodations for as long as they can perform the essential functions of their job with the accommodation. If it comes to the point where, despite all of the reasonable accommodations, the employee cannot perform the essential functions of their job, then the employer may not be required to keep them employed. The question of what are essential functions are taken on a case-by-case basis: It’s a fact-intensive inquiry. Ideally, the essential functions will be construed as narrowly as possible, because employers will often argue that there is a whole list of essential functions even though there really are only one or two essential functions. The challenge is to narrow this lists of essential functions so that an employer is not permitted to terminate you because you can’t perform something they claim is an essential function, but is, in fact, objectively not. If you have been discriminated on the basis of your disability by your employer, or future potential disability, contact an employment lawyer today at the Khadder Law Firm for a free initial consultation. ...