Employees with disabilities are entitled to equal treatment and reasonable accommodations in the workplace. If your employer refused to accommodate your disability, treated you unfairly because of a health condition, or terminated you for taking a protected medical leave, contact Keating Law Firm for a free and confidential consultation with a disability discrimination lawyer in New Jersey.
What Qualifies as a Disability?
Many employees do not realize that their condition qualifies as a disability under the law. Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), a disability can be any physical or mental impairment that prevents the normal exercise of bodily or mental functions or is demonstrable through accepted clinical or laboratory diagnostic techniques. This includes conditions that many people might not immediately associate with disability protections:
- Depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health conditions
- Chronic back injuries, joint problems, and musculoskeletal disorders
- Recovery from surgery or serious illness requiring time off from work and extended treatment
- Cancer and its side effects during or after treatment
- Diabetes, heart conditions, and other chronic diseases
- Temporary but significant injuries lasting weeks or months
To avoid any confusion, NJLAD defines “disability” far more broadly than federal anti-discrimination laws.
If you believe you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation from your employer, you may be covered by NJLAD.
The Interactive Process
Under N.J.S.A. 10:5-4.1, employers must engage in an interactive process with employees who request disability accommodations. The interactive process is a good-faith conversation between the employer and employee to identify reasonable accommodations that allow the employee to perform essential job functions. This is not optional. When an employee discloses a disability or requests an accommodation, the employer must participate in this process.
Reasonable accommodations may include time off from work, modified work schedules, accessible workspaces, reassignment to vacant positions, leave for medical treatment or recovery, and assistive technology. When employers refuse to engage in the interactive process or deny reasonable accommodation requests without justification, they may violate your rights and expose themselves to liability.
Proving Disability Discrimination
Hearing a client’s story and analyzing relevant records are the first steps in exposing discriminatory motives and fighting for justice. Attorney Chris Keating reviews and builds disability discrimination cases by collecting and analyzing employment documents, medical records, communications regarding accommodation requests and the interactive process, emails, text messages, audio recordings, witness testimony, and evidence of how non-disabled employees received different treatment under similar circumstances. In cases involving retaliation, constructing a timeline of events is often crucial to explaining how and when an employer’s conduct towards the employee changed after disclosing a qualifying disability or a request for an accommodation. Failure to preserve all relevant records could harm employees’ abilities to prove their claims.
Damages
Employees who suffer disability discrimination and retaliation can pursue strong remedies under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. Attorney Chris Keating works with clients to pursue back pay for lost wages, front pay for future earning losses, compensatory damages for emotional distress, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees and costs. In some cases, if appropriate, an employee may also seek reinstatement to the position they once held.
Contact a Disability Discrimination Lawyer in New Jersey
Attorney Chris Keating fights on behalf of employees facing disability and retaliation in every county in New Jersey. Call Keating Law Firm at (856) 519-5011 to schedule a free and confidential consultation.