Preventing Disability Discrimination on the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Specifically for employment, the ADA prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities. It also requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation for a qualified applicant’s or employee’s known disability, unless it would impose undue hardship on the employer’s business, or unless the applicant or employee would cause a direct safety threat to themselves or others.

In California, both the ADA and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protect individuals with disabilities from discrimination — although the FEHA offers broader protections. Not only does the FEHA cover employers with five or more employees, but it also has broader definitions of disability and disability discrimination.

Employers can find it challenging to accommodate applicants and employees with disabilities, so it’s important to understand what both federal and state disability discrimination-related employment laws require.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

At the federal level, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces the ADA. Since the ADA went into effect in 1992, the EEOC has received more than 688,000 disability discrimination charges, including more than 33,000 in fiscal year 2024 — an all-time high.

And it’s not just disability discrimination, individuals can bring claims under the ADA for failure to accommodate, harassment, retaliation and disability association.

And these claims are often costly for employers. Some recent EEOC disability-related settlements and lawsuits include:

• $200,000 awarded to an employee with a disability when a company failed to provide a reasonable accommodation. When the worker showed up to work in a light duty position, his supervisor denied there was available work suitable for the worker’s restrictions and sent him home.
• $35,000 awarded and other relief provided when a company failed to hire or terminated employees who failed the company’s post-offer drug screening, despite the medications being lawfully prescribed.
• $55,000 awarded to an employee who requested disability accommodations to return to work after an extended medical leave, but instead the company denied his accommodation request and terminated him due to his disability.
• In a jury verdict, $75,000 awarded in compensatory damages and $36 million in punitive damages (later reduced to $300k per statute) to a deaf driver when a trucking company refused to hire him — even though he had a legal Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration waiver and had completed the company’s own driving school with an interpreter.

Therefore, it’s important for employers to properly meet their ADA obligations to:

• Respond to employees’ and applicants’ requests for accommodation;
• Engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process;
• Explore potential accommodations, which are, essentially, some modification or adjustment to a job, employment practice or work environment that will enable an individual with a disability to enjoy an equal employment opportunity (e.g., adjusting a work schedule, altering non-essential functions of a job, providing assistive aids); and
• Document the entire process.

Importantly, employers must use caution when considering whether an accommodation would be an undue hardship, which is a legal standard that's difficult for employers to meet. Generalized conclusions aren’t sufficient to claim undue hardship. Employers must be able to articulate in detail why a proposed accommodation would require significant difficulty or expense considering the circumstances — and ultimately, the decision should be made with the assistance of legal counsel.

Employers, managers and HR representatives can access available resources to help understand the ADA and the types of accommodations which can be used to help workers with disabilities. Many accommodations can be provided at little or no cost. Some of the disability-related resources for employers include:

• Questions and Answers: Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues
• Enforcement Guidance on Reasonable Accommodation and Undue Hardship Under the ADA
• Enforcement Guidance on Disability-Related Inquiries and Medical Examinations of Employees Under the ADA

Additionally, the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) provides free and confidential consultation for employers of all sizes and types on workplace accommodation solutions, accommodation process strategies and employment provision of the ADA and related legislation.

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)

Besides filing a claim with the EEOC, California applicants and employees can file a disability discrimination claim with the California Civil Rights Department, which enforces the FEHA. The FEHA — covering employers with five or more employees — requires employers to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities and provides greater protection from disability discrimination than the ADA. For example, under the FEHA, someone is considered disabled if that person is “limited” in one or more of the major life activities, rather than “substantially limited” in those activities as required under the ADA.

Also, the FEHA covers both mental and physical disabilities— even temporary or recurring impairments may qualify an employee for accommodations. For example, conditions like pregnancy-related complications or short-term illnesses may be recognized under FEHA even if they do not meet the ADA’s definition of disability.

And in California, disability discrimination is one of the most cited concerns in civil rights complaints filed each year. In 2023, nearly half of all employment complaint cases included a disability claim (2,008 complaints out of 4,072 cases), while right-to-sue complaints had 13,686 disability-related complaints out of 14,982 cases. And one recent disability discrimination case was settled for $200,000 total for an employee alleging his supervisor harassed him based on his disability.

To help employers with fulfilling their FEHA obligations, the CRD has:

• An optional brochure on Employment Discrimination Based on Disability.
• Reasonable Accommodation resources (use our interactive Reasonable Accommodation Request form (and in Spanish)).
• Discrimination Laws Regarding People with Disabilities, including employing people with disabilities.

Employer Takeaways

Employers must consider people with disabilities for employment on an equal basis and prevent discrimination against them. Here’s a few tips to help:

• Make sure there’s a policy and procedure for handling accommodation requests and train supervisors to immediately report any accommodation requests or concerns to Human Resources or another appropriate person to help ensure requests are handled properly.
• Use our Reasonable Accommodation and Interactive Process Checklist to help navigate the interactive process for reasonably accommodating an employee with a disability.
• Consider each situation individually. Accommodation requests are very fact specific — what may be a reasonable accommodation for one position and employee, may not be for another.
• Regular supervision and evaluation of an employee’s performance are not discriminatory actions. Treating employees differently because of a disability or other protected characteristic will very likely be considered discriminatory.
• Always consult legal counsel prior to denying requested accommodations because it imposes an undue hardship or terminating an employee with a disability or who requests reasonable accommodation.