Disability Discrimination

Our Texas disability discrimination lawyers represent employees and groups of employees that believe that they have been discriminated against because of their disability. Notify our Dallas disability lawyers if you experience any of the following examples of disability discrimination:

• Employers who believe a disabled employee cannot perform a job, even though the employee is qualified and able;
• Employers who refuse to make reasonable accommodations for the disabled employees;
• Employers or supervisors who begin treating employees differently after the disclosure of a disability such as HIV, diabetes, cancer, or epilepsy.

Please note, in 2008 a new law was passed greatly strengthening the Americans with Disabilities Act. This new law provides expanded protections for employee rights. If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your disability, please submit your case for review to our Texas disability discrimination lawyers.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”) and specific Texas state laws protect employees against disability discrimination. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which is similar to the ADA, protects some government employees.

The technical definition of a person with a disability is someone who:

• Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
• Has a record of such an impairment; or
• Is regarded as having such an impairment.

Prior to 2008, some courts found that individuals with HIV/AIDS, epilepsy, or diabetes were not considered as disabled. Congress has since fixed that loophole with an amendment to the ADA. Now, people with HIV/AIDS, epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, and a wide range of other disabilities, are covered under the Act.

The ADA has four main components: (1) requirements for maintaining medical records and requiring medical testing, (2) an employer must reasonably accommodate disabilities, (3) an employer may not discriminate against an individual with a disability, and (4) an employer may not retaliate against someone who opposes discrimination of participates in protected activity.

If an employer has your medical records, the employer must maintain them separately from other employment records and generally should keep them confidential. The ADA requirement is similar to the requirements of HIPAA, which applies to medical providers.

Know your employee rights. An employer is limited in how it can use medical records or conduct medical testing. The two primary rules are:

• Employers may not ask job applicants about medical information or require a physical examination prior to offering employment. After employment is offered, an employer can only ask for a medical examination if it is required of all employees holding similar jobs.
• If you are turned down for work based on the results of a medical examination, the employer must prove that it is physically impossible for you to do the work required.

Our Dallas disability discrimination lawyers fight for employee rights by punishing employers for improper testing and record keeping. We invite you to submit your case for review below.

An employer must provide a reasonable accommodation if it would allow an employee to perform the essential functions of the job. The following are some of the things that may be a reasonable accommodation:

• Making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities;
• Job restructuring, modifying work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position; and
  
• Acquiring or modifying equipment or devices, adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or policies, and providing qualified readers or interpreters.

An employer is expected to work with you to find the best solution for you and the company that would allow you to do your job. If your employer does not work with you, contact us so that one of our Texas employment lawyers can fight for your rights.

Sometimes taking leave is a reasonable accommodation. The Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) gives many employees up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave. This leave may be taken incrementally instead of large blocks of time, such as taking additional breaks during the day, taking half days off, coming to work later than normal, or leaving earlier. Taken a few hours at a time, twelve weeks can stretch out for a long time. An employer who denies FMLA leave may have violated both the FMLA and the ADA.

Our Dallas disability discrimination lawyers fight for employees and their reasonable accommodations. Contact us today and protect your employee rights.

An employer cannot discriminate against an employee because of the employee’s disability. This includes discrimination in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment.

Discrimination can take the form of obvious bias, such as a supervisor who avoids an employee with HIV. Discrimination can also take the form of improper stereotypes, such as the idea that an employee cannot both be in law enforcement and take insulin injections for diabetes.

Regardless of the form it takes, employment discrimination based on disability is illegal.

Our Dallas disability discrimination lawyers are trained to uncover unlawfully discrimination and fight for employee rights. Contact a Texas employment lawyer at Rob Wiley, P.C. and allow us to protect your rights.

It is against the law for an employer to retaliate against an employee for (1) opposing unlawful disability discrimination, (2) filing charges of discrimination, (3) testifying, or (4) participating in any way in an investigation, proceeding, or litigation under the ADA.

Our employment discrimination lawyers in Dallas have extensive experience fighting disability retaliation. Do not hesitate to contact one of our offices to learn your employee rights.

If you believe your employer has discriminated against you because of a disability, please submit your case for review.