If you have a disability, you may be discouraged about asking for accommodations so that you can do your job to the best of your ability. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) can protect you if you were fired due to your disability, but before you file a claim, here is what you should know about the limitations of the ADA.
The Americans with Disabilities Act
There are two types of claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The first entails an employee facing different treatment because he or she has a partial disability, just as if the employee were treated differently due to her or his gender or religion. “Partial disability” assumes that an employee is working despite a permanent disability. The second type of claim has to do with the failure of an employer to provide what the courts call “reasonable accommodation” for the partial disability.
These claims can be difficult to parse. Some cases are filed because an employee had been hired and was working, even though the employee had a known disability, and the employer started to turn the disability into a major issue sometime later, firing the employee for her or his disability. These claims are not common, but they do exist. Employers have a responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations to employees who are otherwise able to perform the essential functions of their jobs. There is some disagreement, though, over what constitutes an essential function and whether a temporary or permanent accommodation is reasonable.
The Americans with Disabilities Act does not work that well because there are always mountains of disputes over what is and is not “reasonable.” There are many case law decisions, or precedents, on this matter, but lawyers can easily argue over what “reasonable” truly denotes.
If you have questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act and what protections are available to you under it, please contact our dedicated Buffalo employment lawyers today for dedicated representation.
At Chiacchia & Fleming, LLP, our mission is to provide clients with the finest quality legal services, in an aggressive, practical and cost-effective manner.