Disability Discrimination

Failure to accommodate a disability may be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and or the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. ADA claims may be complex and require a detailed legal analysis complex. The first question is whether the employee has a "disability" as the term is defined under the law. A disability for the purposes of the ADA is a condition, which substantially impairs a major life activity. A disability must affect a "major life activity" which is also defined under the law. Major life activities may include things like walking, seeing, or breathing. The next consideration is whether the disability substantially impairs that activity.

Disability Defined

A disability for the purposes of the ADA is a condition, which substantially impairs a major life activity. A disability must affect a "major life activity" which is also defined under the law. Major life activities may include things like walking, seeing, or breathing. The next consideration is whether the disability substantially impairs that activity.

Being Perceived as Disabled

An exception to the requirement that an employee actually be disabled under the law may be where the employer acts with the belief or "perception" that the employee is disabled. But this does not mean that simply calling an employee disabled suffices. The employer must actually perceive that the employee has a condition, which substantially impairs a major life activity.

Requesting a Disability Accommodation

In order to claim the protections of the ADA, the employee must first approach the employer and explain how the disability impairs his work and engage in an interactive process to obtain an accommodation. If an Employee needs an accommodation based upon a disability, the employee should explain the situation to the employer and document that explanation.

Help for Disabled Employees - The ADAAA

On January 1, 2009 the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) became effective. The ADAAA is intended to overturn a series of Supreme Court decisions that interpreted the ADA in a way that made it difficult for an employee to prove that an impairment meets the legal definition of "disability." The ADAAA makes significant changes to the ADA's definition of "disability" that broadens the scope of coverage of the ADA. Major changes include:  

1. A broader definition of " disability" expanding the definition of 'major life activities; redefining who is 'regarded as' having a disability; modifying the regulatory definition of 'substantially limits; specifying that "disability" includes any impairment that is episodic or in remission if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active; and prohibiting consideration of the ameliorative effects of "mitigating measures" when assessing whether an impairment substantially limits a person's major life activities, with one exception.
2. Adding a new provision restricting employers' use of qualification standards, tests, or other selection criteria that are based on uncorrected vision standards;
3. Clarifying that an individual who satisfies only the "regarded as" prong of the definition of disability is not entitled to 'reasonable accommodation; and
4. Modifying the language of the ADA's "General Rule" that prohibited discrimination against "a qualified individual with a disability because of the disability of such individual" to say that discrimination is prohibited against "a qualified individual on the basis of disability."

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