In 21st Century America, we all know that it is illegal to discriminate against people because of their race, gender or age. Thanks to the Americans With Disability Act (“ADA”) it is also illegal to discriminate against people because they have a disability. The ADA does not require companies to hire people for jobs they cannot do. It simply forbids companies from firing or refusing to hire disabled people because of a disability if the disabled person is able to perform the required work (sometimes with reasonable accommodations). Unfortunately, some employers continue to discriminate against the disabled. For example, settled a case with Rite Aid for its treatment of an epileptic employee.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission explained that “Rite Aid plainly violated the federal law which requires employers to make individualized assessments about a person’s ability to do the job instead of acting out of speculative fears or biases about people with disabilities.” If you believe that you were wrongly terminated from a job because of disability or other discriminatory reasons, your rights may have been violated. Please contact us to discuss your legal options.