Workers with disabilities have been unfairly discriminated against for many years. In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to protect workers from discrimination because of their disability by employers with 15 or more employees. In the time since its passage, the scope of the ADA was narrowed by numerous decisions by the Supreme Court and various courts of appeals. Recently, however, Congress passed the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which is intended to restore the broad scope of the ADA. Consequently, many people who were not formerly protected by the ADA now have protection.
The ADA protects employees in two basic ways. First, an employee who has a disability and who needs some type of change in the terms or conditions of his employment can request a “reasonable accommodation” from his employer so that he can perform his job better. The employer then must give the employee a reasonable accommodation, unless providing such an accommodation would cause an undue hardship on the employer’s business operations. Examples of reasonable accommodations include making the workplace wheelchair accessible, modifying an employee’s work schedule or job duties, reassigning an employee to a new position, acquiring or modifying the equipment the employee uses, providing readers or interpreters and changing company policies. An employer who refuses to make a reasonable accommodation violates the ADA unless the employer proves that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer’s business operations.
The second basic protection for employees is that the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. The ADA protects persons with disabilities from discrimination, whether they are employees or applicants for employment. An employer may not ask job applicants about the existence, nature or severity of the applicant’s disability. However, an applicant may be asked if he or she is able to perform the essential functions of the job. Once hired, the employer may not change the terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of the employee’s disability. So long as a person with a disability can perform the essential duties of the job, with or without a reasonable accommodation, the employer cannot take any tangible adverse employment action against the employee, such as firing, demoting, reducing pay or refusing to promote the employee, if a reason for the action is the employee’s disability.
The Texas Commission on Human Rights Act similarly requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation, and prohibits disability discrimination.
A person who wants to bring a claim based on disability must first file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division or a local fair employment practices agency. Generally, such a charge must be filed within 180 days of the date the discrimination occurred. This is a necessary step which must be taken before an employee can file a lawsuit against his or her employer for any type disability discrimination.