Addressing Disability Discrimination in California: Legal Protections and Accommodations
Are you facing any unpleasant situations in the workplace that correlate with your disability? Is your employer refusing your equal access to the business and services? Or, are you being discriminated against just because of your disability? If your answer is yes to the above questions, you should seek legal protection under the disability discrimination employment law of California. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, and the Disabled Persons Act are crucial state laws that will protect you from discrimination based on disability. Let’s talk about the major points of these laws for your better understanding.
Definition of disability
Under the California state laws, disability is defined as:
- A condition that limits major life activities
- Physical disability
- Mental disability
- Medical conditions like HIV/AIDS, and cancer.
Obligations of employers under disability discrimination employment law
- Your employer is entitled to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled applicants and employees who can not perform job functions due to their disability.
- Your employer is also required to engage in an interactive process with the applicants and employees who need reasonable accommodations for their disability.
- According to California‘s Unruh Civil Rights Act, your employer can not discriminate against you by any means because of your disability, medical condition, genetic information, race, color, sex, etc.
Can I sue my employer for disability discrimination?
When you face disability discrimination in the workplace, you should take immediate action to combat the situation. The legal procedures are discussed below for your benefit.
File a complaint with CRD
For disability-related claims, you should make a formal complaint with CRD. CRD will investigate the complaint and try to settle your issue of facing discrimination in the workplace for your disability. To make a formal complaint, first, you need to file an intake form. You can complete the process via mail, phone call, or online website.
Submit proper evidence
CRD will assess your case and the facts related to the case. You need to submit proper evidence to support your claim. You should provide documents showing a request for reasonable accommodation and documents showing a denial of the reasonable accommodation with other relevant medical documents.
File a lawsuit in the court
You file your lawsuit without waiting for the investigation result of CRD. In that case, you will have to obtain a right-to-sue notice from CRD. Then you can sue your employer in civil court for committing discrimination against you.
Recover compensations
You may demand legal remedies and compensation for the discrimination you faced in the workplace. From the lawsuit and complaint, you may get the following compensation.
- An injunction prohibiting the unlawful practice
- Access to job opportunities
- Policy changes
- Recovery of out-of-pocket losses
- Training
- Reasonable accommodation
- Damages for emotional distress
- Civil penalties
- Punitive damages
Final Words
Hopefully, you have understood the key aspects of disability discrimination employment law from the above article. In brief, you can either sue your employer in civil court or make a formal complaint with the Civil Rights Department of California to stand against discrimination.
Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/ Robert Kneschke