Our lawyers are dedicated to justice for disabled individuals. Contact our team at 202.745.1942, or reach out online to schedule a consultation with a member of our experienced legal team.
Disability Discrimination
Were you discriminated against at work because of your disability? You may have rights, and the attorneys of Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC, know how to protect them.
For more than 30 years, our law firm has been standing up on behalf of employees in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, and elsewhere in the USA. Our lawyers have written and lectured extensively on employment law issues, including those concerning employee rights. We regularly serve as faculty members for continuing legal education seminars, including those offered by the American Bar Association, the American Law Institute-American Bar Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association, and the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association.
We stand ready to put all our knowledge and resources to work on your case. Call our office today to schedule a consultation with a disability rights employment lawyer in Washington, DC, and let’s discuss what we can do for you.
Disability discrimination is the unfair treatment of workers due to their physical or mental impairments, their perceived disabilities, or their association with someone who has disabilities. Discrimination of this type can appear in employment, education, or public services. Retaliation can also happen when an employer takes an adverse action against a worker because the worker complained about disability discrimination or supported co-workers in their complaints. Laws exist that protect workers against discrimination and retaliation.
If you’ve suffered discrimination at work because of a disability or the perception that you have one, or retaliation for asserting or assisting with a disability discrimination claim, you need a lawyer from a law firm steeped in the law that governs employees’ rights.
Our Washington, DC law firm represents all types of workers throughout the Capital Region. Whether you work for a private employer, a federal agency, the government of Washington, DC, or you’re a contractor, we will put our skills and 75 years of combined experience to work to protect you from discrimination. If you’ve already been retaliated against, we will fight for the remedies you deserve.
The laws that enumerate employee rights are the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, the Washington, DC Human Rights Act, and the state and local laws elsewhere in the USA.
This Act created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This agency is responsible for enforcing laws that prohibit workplace discrimination based on disability and other protected characteristics.
Since 1990, the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has prohibited discrimination based on disability. Title I of the Act protects workers from workplace discrimination and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified workers. Under the ADA, a disabled person is one who has a physical or mental impairment that significantly limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.
A qualified employee is one who can perform the essential functions of the job in question, with or without a reasonable accommodation.
Subchapter 5 of this federal law outlines the rights of people with disabilities in their interaction with the federal government, whether through direct contact with a federal agency or with entities that receive federal contracts or financial assistance. Section 501 of the Act requires affirmative action and nondiscrimination in federal employment. These provisions ensure that applicants and employees with disabilities are treated equitably.
Section 504 of the Act states that no qualified individual with a disability shall be excluded from, denied benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under any activity or program receiving federal financial assistance or conducted by a federal agency. This section expanded access to education, employment, and public services, and requires reasonable accommodations.
Section 508 makes it mandatory that federal electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities.
This Act prohibits discrimination based on various characteristics, including disability, in employment, housing, public accommodations, and educational institutions. Prohibited actions include using disability as a factor in decisions involving hiring, firing, promotions, and access to services.
When you have a case of disability discrimination or retaliation, a lawyer can advise you about your best course of action and under which law or laws you should file your claim.
Disability discrimination in Washington, DC, can take many forms. Examples include:
An employer may have to provide a number of possible reasonable accommodations, including:
A modification or adjustment is reasonable if it seems feasible or plausible. The modification must meet the needs of the individual by enabling them to perform the essential functions of the job and enjoy the benefits and privileges of employment that people without disabilities enjoy.
An accommodation may pose an undue hardship if the employer would face significant difficulty or expenses in providing the accommodation. Undue hardship refers to accommodations that are unduly extensive, disruptive, or substantial, as well as financial, or those that would fundamentally alter the operation or nature of the business.
An attorney from an employee rights law firm can review your situation to determine whether the employer failed to make appropriate accommodation and whether they can be held liable for that failure.
An employment law lawyer can file your disability discrimination claim for you. They can also determine whether it’s appropriate to file your claim through the EEOC, the Office for Civil Rights, or Washington, DC’s Office of Human Rights, or whether you should start with an internal complaint.
The remedies you could obtain in a disability discrimination case depend on what has happened to you. You could receive back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, attorney’s fees and costs, or reinstatement to your job. In some cases, your employer may be required to make policy changes.
Every worker has the right to do their job without being discriminated against because of a disability or a perceived disability. If you’ve been the victim of discrimination, you need a law firm like Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC to step up on your behalf. We focus on employee rights, and we know how to protect them. Call our office today. You’ll get a confidential consultation during which an employee rights lawyer in Washington, DC, will listen to your situation, advise you of your options, and help you assert your rights.
Our lawyers are dedicated to justice for disabled individuals. Contact our team at 202.745.1942, or reach out online to schedule a consultation with a member of our experienced legal team.
