Disability Discrimination

Disability discrimination occurs when an employer treats a qualified individual less favorably than other employees or applicants because he or she has a disability.

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The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to all private employers with more than 15 employees, and all public employers regardless of the size. This means that these affected employers cannot discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities.

All affected employers are prohibited from discriminating in hiring, firing, and job placement and training. This also means that wages and benefits must not be determined based on an employee’s disability.

Any qualified individual who can perform the essential function of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, is protected against discrimination under the ADA.

A job’s core duties are defined as the “essential function,” meaning the reason the job exists. This is an important definition, because as long as the individual can perform these duties, they cannot be considered unqualified due to inability to perform incidental or unnecessary job functions.

The NJLAD prohibits disability discrimination in the workplace. Although it does not expressly require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for injured employees, New Jersey courts have consistently held that employers are held to such an obligation under the law. After receiving notification of an employee’s disability, employers must work in good faith with their employees to come up with reasonable accommodations. They are required to provide disabled workers with light-duty work when it would not impose an undue hardship on the operation of the business. Additionally, a temporary leave of absence generally constitutes a reasonable accommodation under the NJLAD.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects workers from employment discrimination based on disability status. This means that your employer cannot fire you or refuse to hire you simply because of your disability. In real life, things are not that simple. The law contains protections for workers as well as for employers. It does not protect every disabled employee from being fired from any job at any time for any reason. The details of the employment termination make all the difference. It depends when, why, and under what circumstances the employer terminated the worker’s employment. If you think your employer has subjected you to unfair termination because of your disability, contact a New Jersey employment lawyer.

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