San Francisco / Oakland
Disability Discrimination Lawyer

Getting hired is only the first hurdle you must clear in your career, especially if you have a disability. Perhaps that promised parking space never materialized, making the trip from your car across the parking lot a slow, difficult process. Maybe your supervisor is fed up with the time off that your medical condition requires. If you are experiencing harassment at work or have been terminated because of a disability, you need a San Francisco disability discrimination lawyer.

What is Disability Discrimination in the Workplace?

The Americans with Disabilities Act and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provide clear guidelines for the fair treatment of individuals with disabilities in the workplace. ADA and EEOC guidelines apply to all stages of the employment process, beginning with hiring decisions and extending through your termination or retirement. Wages, training, work assignments, benefits, and promotions are some of the other issues the ADA covers. If your employer, supervisor or co-worker is failing to follow these legal guidelines, you are likely experiencing disability discrimination.

Who is Protected?

Any person with who meets the legal criteria for having a disability is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act from discrimination by private employers, local or state governments, labor unions, employment services, and labor-management organizations. If your qualifications meet the job requirements, any employer must consider you on an equal basis with other qualified candidates, and if you are hired, your employer must make the accommodations you require to perform your duties effectively.

Qualifying disabilities must be major impairments that substantially limit or impede such physical abilities as hearing, eyesight, speech, learning, walking, breathing, manual coordination or self-care, including:

• Vision or hearing deficit
• Dyslexia
• ADHD
• Paralysis
• Other mobility impairments
• Intellectual impairment

A chronic, debilitating disease such as one of the following is also a qualifying disability under ADA:

• Diabetes
• Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Autism
• Cerebral palsy
• Multiple sclerosis
• Muscular dystrophy
• HIV/AIDS

Mental health-related diseases such as the following also qualify as disabilities, according to ADA:

• Major depressive disorder
• Bipolar disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Schizophrenia

Some problems that you may consider a disability do not qualify as such according to ADA guidelines. These conditions include alcoholism, drug addiction, compulsive gambling, and various phobias.

Examples of Disability Discrimination in the Workplace

Should you decide to pursue legal action, your disability discrimination lawyer must prove that the discrimination you are experiencing at work is directly related to your disability. While your disability discrimination attorney is your best resource in evaluating such matters, some general examples of disability discrimination in the workplace include:

• A pattern of disability-centered intimidation or harassment that continues even after you have informed your boss about it
• Denial of or failure to provide reasonable accommodation you need to do your job
• Failure to promote you because of your disability, even though similarly qualified co-workers have been promoted
• Significant differences between how your employers treat you and how they treat employees without disabilities
• Company policies that do not account for persons with disabilities, such as required overtime that causes transportation difficulties

If you are experiencing any of the above types of discrimination or similar situations on the job, a San Francisco disability discrimination attorney can help.

Disability Discrimination Statistics

Only 17.5 percent of Americans with disabilities were employed in 2015. Women of color with disabilities typically experience more problems in the workplace than white males with disabilities, and LGBQ individuals with disabilities are also at a higher risk of being discriminated against.

In California, the most prevalent reason people seek legal help is dismissal from a job because of their disability, according to research from Cornell University. From 2012 to 2014, nearly 59 percent of Californians with disabilities sought legal recourse for this reason.

The second most common cause for legal action due to disability discrimination is the employer’s failure to provide the reasonable accommodation necessary for a person with a disability to perform work tasks effectively. Between 2012 and 2014, 35 percent of Californians with disabilities bringing legal action cited this reason. Terms/conditions, harassment, and discipline were also among the top discrimination complaints.

Do I Need to Hire a Disability Discrimination Lawyer?

Hiring a lawyer to enforce your rights as an employee with disabilities is an effective action at many levels. For example, sometimes all it takes is a call from your attorney to remind your employer of the accommodations that you agreed upon when you were hired.

If legal action becomes necessary, a lawyer with experience in disability discrimination cases can navigate the nuances of the law, which can be exacting and often tricky. You must comply with a specific process to put a discrimination complaint in motion, and a knowledgeable attorney can streamline the process.

If you are an individual with a disability in the San Francisco Bay Area, and you believe you are experiencing workplace discrimination, contact Rizio Lipinsky Heiting Law Firm for the compassionate, experienced and effective legal help you need. Call 888-292-8888 or fill out our online contact form to get started.