Orange County Disability Discrimination Lawyer
The federal and state laws protecting California employees against discrimination in the workplace are not limited to classifications such as race, gender, and religion. As a California employee, you have the right to be free from discrimination based on your physical or mental disability and, absent good cause such as a bona fide occupational qualification, an employer cannot refuse to hire you or take any adverse employment action against you based on your disability. California law requires employers to make efforts to accommodate employees with physical or mental disabilities.
The Orange County discrimination lawyers at Coast Employment Law help clients who suffer discrimination in workplaces throughout southern California. Whether you were passed over for a promotion, denied a bonus or benefits, rejected for a position, given fewer hours, paid less, refused accommodation, denied rights under federal or state employment leave laws, or otherwise treated as inferior because of your disability, you have a right to compensation. The Orange County disability discrimination lawyers at Coast Employment Law are here to fight for your rights.
Covered Employees
California law prohibiting workplace discrimination covers a wide range of disabilities, medical conditions, and circumstances. Workers are protected under the following circumstances, for example:
- If the employee declares they have any of a variety of physical or mental impairments, including blindness, deafness, loss of limb, paralysis, migraines, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, heart defects, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism spectrum disorders, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, recovery from substance abuse, cognitive disabilities, or obsessive-compulsive disorder;
- If the employer perceives the employee to have any physical impairment that is disabling, potentially disabling, or perceived as such;
- The employee has a history of a medical condition such as cancer in remission;
- The employee has a permanent or temporary physical or mental impairment. Even conditions such as a broken leg, broken arm, clinical depression or anxiety, pregnancy, or ADD/ADHD may be covered.
Forms of Discrimination
California law prohibits discrimination against workers based on a physical disability, mental disability, or medical condition. Like other forms of workplace discrimination, denying an otherwise qualified employee a position, reducing their compensation, or taking any other adverse employment action against an employee based on their disability is prohibited.
Moreover, disability discrimination includes denying an employee leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or California Family Rights Act (CFRA), refusing an employee reasonable accommodation, retaliating against an employee for requesting reasonable accommodation, or otherwise failing to engage in a dialogue with an employee who declares a disability in order to accommodate them in the workplace (also known as the “interactive process”).
Reasonable Accommodation
Employers must generally take reasonable steps to accommodate your disability. Reasonable accommodation means that employers must do their best to enable a disabled worker to perform the essential functions of their job unless doing so would create an undue hardship to the employer’s operations. Refusing reasonable accommodation is a form of disability discrimination, essentially forcing the employee to leave their position.
Typical accommodations for disabled workers include things like allowing for additional breaks or longer breaks throughout the day, granting disabled workers a brief leave of absence, letting the worker use a service dog at work, giving a wheelchair-bound employee a desk or office on the first floor to avoid using stairs, restructuring the employee’s job duties, changing the employee’s work schedule, providing mechanical aids, or other reasonable accommodations. Appropriate accommodations depend on the circumstances of the business and the specific disability faced by the employee. Accommodations must be reasonable and not cause undue hardship: If an employee’s request would require, for example, reconstructing the entire building or letting the worker only work thirty minutes a day, then the employer may have the right to refuse such accommodations.
Contact An Experienced Orange County Disability Discrimination Lawyer Today
The seasoned Orange County discrimination lawyers at Coast Employment Law will go the distance for you. We are well-known throughout southern California for both our tenacity and experience; we will work diligently to achieve the best possible outcome in your case. If you or anyone you know in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, or San Diego County, or anywhere in California, needs legal help, call Coast Employment Law today at 714-551-9930, or fill out the contact form on this website to set up a free consultation.
