disability discrimination

California Job Seekers With Disabilities Should Know Their Workplace Legal Rights

December 12, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

As of last year, about 19 percent of people in the U.S. with a disability were employed – a notable increase from just a few years ago, according to the U.S. Bureau of labor Statistics. That’s a notable increase from just a few years ago, though companies in California and throughout the country still have a ways to go when it comes cultivating inclusive workforces.

For job applicants with disabilities, knowing the basic foundations of your rights is important. The ability to clearly identify unfair treatment in the workplace is important, as is knowing what recourse may be available and who you can turn to for help.

Our Los Angeles disability discrimination lawyers recognize that most disability discrimination claims are going to be rooted in The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the Unruh Civil Rights Act, the Disabled Persons Act, and the federal Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

FEHA applies to California employers with 5+ employees, and prohibits disability discrimination of job applicants and/or employees. The Unruh Civil Rights Act, California Civil Code Section 51, provides protection from discrimination against all business establishments in the state on the basis of disability (among other things). The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, and applies to all government employers and any workplace with 15+ employees.

Understanding Disability Discrimination and Employee Rights

Our state-level provide greater anti-discrimination protections for workers with disabilities compared to federal law. Continue Reading ›

Failure to Provide Reasonable Accommodations is a Form of California Disability Discrimination

October 10, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

Workplaces that fail to accommodate a worker’s injury or disability may be rightly sued for California employment discrimination.

As explained by the California Department of General Services’ Office of Human Resources, reasonable accommodation refers to logical adjustments made to a job and/or the work environment that enables a person who is disabled to perform the essential functions of that job. Reasonable accommodations don’t change the essential job functions or create jobs that don’t exist. But they are provided when accommodation is necessary to allow a person who is disabled to perform the essential job functions.

Employers have a responsibility to engage in a timely, good faith, interactive process to determine effective reasonable accommodations for employees who are disabled. When they do not, workers can take legal action against them by filing a California employment lawsuit.

That’s what happened in a recent case at a poultry farm in Merced County, Central California. Continue Reading ›

California Disability Discrimination: What is a Reasonable Accommodation

March 25, 2022 | by Nassiri Law

California workers with physical and mental disabilities can request reasonable accommodations if they are necessary to assist them in their daily duties. Our Los Angeles disability discrimination lawyers know, however, that the question of what, exactly, a reasonable accommodation is can be a bit unclear.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) stipulates that in order to ask for a reasonable accommodation, one must meet the definition of having a physical or mental impairment that substantially inhibits one or more major life activities. At the state-level, we have the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), the Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the Disabled Persons Act all protect workers from disability-based discrimination.

What are Reasonable Accommodations?

Reasonable accommodations are slight changes that are made – either to the duties of the job or how/when/where/with what it’s performed. Ultimately, the goal is to provide reasonable tools that a qualified, disabled employee needs to complete the essential functions of their job while enjoying equal workplace opportunities. The requested accommodations must be within reason, and not place “undue hardship” on the employer.

Some examples of reasonable accommodations may include: Continue Reading ›

$2.5 Million Paid in California Disability, Age Discrimination Lawsuits

June 28, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

The City of Huntington Beach has paid $2.5 million total to settle claims of disability and age discrimination allegedly perpetrated in part by the city attorney. The payout comes after the city paid $1.5 million fighting the claims.

According to The Orange County Register, two former employees allege the city’s former and current senior deputy city attorneys made numerous efforts to force them and other older workers out of their employment roles.

The case had been pending for two years, and council members, who had to approve the legal fees, insist the case has always been without merit, which is why they pushed the outside lawyers to prepare for trial rather than try to settle. Ultimately, though, they chose to settle with one claimant for $1 million and another for $1.5 million. Continue Reading ›

Mental Fitness Tests for Cops Can’t be Used as a Disability Discrimination Cover, Federal Appeals Court Rules

March 30, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

Both California and federal laws protect employees and prospective employees from discrimination on the basis of disability or perceived disability. This was at issue recently in a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where a prospective police officer’s job offer was rescinded after a mental fitness test in which he revealed his diagnosis of ADHD.

As the court noted in its precedential decision in Gibbs v. City of Pittsburg, government agencies have the right to ensure their police officers are mentally fit. However, they are not allowed to use psychological testing as a cover for disability discrimination.

Our Los Angeles disability discrimination lawyers can explain that California has some of the best employment law protections for workers with disabilities, actual or perceived. Employers are required to evaluate job applicants regardless of their actual or perceived disabilities. They can require medical or psychological exams – but only if they routinely apply them for all prospective hires.

Police departments do routinely test officer candidates for both physical and mental fitness. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that between 72 percent and 98 percent of police agencies require psychological evaluations of police officer candidates, and many states have statutory and regulatory requirements for psychological testing of public safety job applicants. But it’s imperative that they follow the letter of the law when doing so. Continue Reading ›

How an Employer’s Website Opened the Door to a Disability Discrimination Claim

January 25, 2021 | by Nassiri Law

Employers would be wise to carefully comb through their online job solicitations to ensure they are accessible to those who are visually impaired or blind. This is true even if you aren’t primarily operating in California. Failure to do so could result in significant financial damages, as well as loss of customers and a stain on their reputation. This was underscored recently in a California disability employment lawsuit, Thurston v. Fairfield Collectibles of Georgia, LLC, filed by a California resident against a Georgia company.

According to court records, plaintiff was blind and a resident of California. She sued the business for not providing her with full and equal access to its website, which she claimed was in violation of the state’s disability discrimination law. Specifically, she alleged a violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

This does pertain specifically to employment law, but rather to the right to full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges and services in all business establishments of any kind whatsoever. Discrimination on the basis of gender, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic discrimination, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language or immigration status. The UCRA further indicates that any violation outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is also a violation of the UCRA. Continue Reading ›

Ninth Circuit Reinstates FMLA, Disability Discrimination Claim

December 21, 2020 | by Nassiri Law

Going up against a large employer when you’ve been discriminated against can be daunting, especially when your condition arises from a work-related injury. An experienced Los Angeles employment lawyer can help guide you through the process of seeking justice and fair compensation.

Recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (which has jurisdiction over California) reinstated an FMLA and disability discrimination lawsuit filed by a Nevada woman against a large box chain retailer employer.

The case of Hazelett v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. began with a work injury. Plaintiff worked as an order-filler at one of the store’s distribution centers near her home when she injured her foot on-the-job. She filed for workers’ compensation and later, a leave of absence. During her work-related disability, the store offered her a temporary alternate duty assignment. The form for that assignment indicated that if she refused that assignment, her disability benefits could be suspended or denied due to noncompliance. However, the reassignment they offered was a far distance from her home and required her to work into the wee hours of the morning. Meanwhile, her work injury was such that she could not drive. No public transportation would be available to take her home after her shift, unless she paid for a taxi, which she couldn’t afford. She called out sick each day she was absent, thinking they were excused, as they were all related to her workers’ compensation injury. Yet on the day she filed for leave under the U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act, she was fired for excessive absences.

(FMLA is a federal law allowing up to 12 weeks of protected, unpaid leave in a 12-month period for the birth of a child/placement of adoption, care of a spouse/child/parent who has a serious health condition or a serious health condition rendering employee unable to perform the essential functions of his/her job.)

Coronavirus Discrimination? What Workers Need to Know

February 22, 2020 | by Nassiri Law

As fears of the highly-contagious and potentially fatal coronavirus continue to spread, authorities have imposed numerous drastic measures and quarantine actions, from keeping passengers for weeks on a cruise ship to canceling classes for Japanese school children for the rest of the year. Some factories in Vietnam were forced to shut down operations when mangers on holiday in China were barred from traveling.

So what happens if you miss work due to illness or quarantine? What sort of job protections exist for workers under federal law?

First, let’s start by explaining what a quarantine is. A quarantine is the confinement of individuals who either have been or could have been exposed to a certain communicable illness or disease. Someone can be quarantined even if they don’t have the illness. This is different from isolation, which occurs when individuals who are sick are kept somewhere separate from those who are sick. Both state and federal governments in the U.S. have the legal authority to quarantine, though governments typically work together to determine if it’s necessary. A quarantine can last anywhere from a few hours to several weeks. If it stretches on past a few days, it could easily affect one’s ability to make a living. Continue Reading ›

Employees Win $2M California Disability Discrimination Case Against Nursing Home Chain

February 20, 2020 | by Nassiri Law

A for-profit nursing home chain operating dozens of facilities in several states (including California) has agreed to pay $2 million and implement other corrective measures after being sued for disability discrimination.

Local media report that at the heart of the case were strict hiring and leave policies that unfairly affected those suffering a disability. Like far too many employers, the company seemed to be under the impression that applicants and workers had to be 100 percent capable of performing every job function as-is (without accommodation or restriction), and that employees need not be extended further consideration if they had run out of FMLA and sick leave time. This is not true.

As our Los Angeles disability discrimination lawyers can explain, such policies violate federal law – specifically the Americans with Disabilities Act. Continue Reading ›

California Disability Discrimination Lawsuit Alleges Firing After Cancer Diagnosis

January 24, 2020 | by Nassiri Law

Even though there have been significant strides in cancer awareness, treatment and survivor rates, people with cancer still experience barriers to equal workplace opportunities. Employees too often face California disability discrimination due to misconceptions about their ability to work during and after receiving cancer treatment.

Yet another example of this was recently reported by The Fresno Bee, which detailed the story of a Tulare woman who is suing her former employer, a ranch and beef company, for allegedly firing her after she took medical leave while undergoing chemotherapy. She had worked at the company for two decades and had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

As our Los Angeles disability discrimination lawyers understand it, plaintiff is alleging a range of civil rights violations under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, breaches of the state’s Unfair Business Practices Act and wrongful termination. Continue Reading ›