What is it?
Employees who are differently-abled may be eligible for certain job protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If the disability limits your ability to do one or more activities that are common to most people and an employer doesn’t make changes that allow you to complete your job tasks, then you may have a cause of action against your employer. An employer also cannot refuse to hire you because of this disability.
What is the consequence?
One of the primary goals of an ADA lawsuit is to return the injured party to the position the employee would have been in had the injurious action not occurred. Some remedies an employee may seek in an ADA lawsuit include:
- Back pay – This may include lost wages and benefits from the date of the harmful act until the end of the lawsuit. Back pay may include salary, bonuses, vacation pay, and pension and health benefits.
- Front pay – This includes pay the employee would have received in the future if the discrimination had not prevented the employee’s return to the workplace.
- Job reinstatement with accommodations – The employee with a disability returns to work with some changes in place that the employer pays for.
- Punitive damages – This includes additional money from the employer as punishment for intentionally ignoring the needs of an employee with a disability.
- Compensatory damages – This is money for the disabled employee to justly compensate for the injury, such as money for emotional distress, mental anguish, pain and suffering, inconvenience, humiliation, and medical expenses incurred as result of psychological or physical harm.
- Attorney fees – As with most laws that protect civil rights, the employer must pay the employee’s attorney fees when the employee succeeds with the claim.
For more information about disability discrimination in the workplace, contact Triquetra Law at: 717-299-6300.