If you are an employee who has a form of heart disease, or experienced some sort of heart episode in or out of the workplace, there may be unsubstantiated assumptions by your employer that you no longer can perform the essential responsibilities of your job with or without an accommodation. As the United States Supreme Court has noted, certain types of disabilities evoke stereotypical fears that perpetuate discrimination against its victims in all aspects of life, including employment. A review of the history of some of these disabilities provides a salient example that fear, rather than the handicap itself, is the major impetus for discrimination against persons with the disability.
Heart disease presents in many forms and employers will sometimes view a person returning from a leave due to a myocardial infarction or other heart condition as no longer having the ability to perform the essential functions of his or job. An executive employee could be a rising star on the upward mobility track until the employer learns the executive was born with congenital heart disease and then the accelerations in promotions abruptly halts.
Among people age seventy-five years and older, the US labor force is expected to grow by 96.5 percent over the decade spanning 2020 to 2030.
As the age of the workers who are still employed is rising in the United States, discrimination against workers with heart disease is likely to become more prevalent.
According to United States Government statistics, the US labor force for persons ages sixteen to twenty-four is projected to shrink by 7.5 percent from the years 2020 to 2030. But among people age seventy-five years and older, the labor force is expected to grow by 96.5 percent over the same decade spanning 2020 to 2030.
Furthermore, twenty-seven percent of all workers age seventy-five and over, are designated as “essential” workers. Twenty-nine percent of all workers age sixty-five percent and over are designated as “essential” workers.
With the aging of the American workforce, it is foreseeable that there will a corresponding rise in employment discrimination of those who have some type of a heart disease. Heart disease is a hypernym term covering many conditions including myocardial infarction, cardiac infarction, congenital heart disease, coronary thrombosis, ischemic heart disease, and angina.
In handicap discrimination the employer bears the burden of proving that the handicap reasonably precludes the performance of the particular employment with or without a reasonable accommodation. Many employees upon returning from a medical leave for a heart condition can perform the essential function of their job if the employer provides a reasonable accommodation. The employer has a legal duty to provide such accommodation.
At other times, the person returning from a medical leave is able to return to work and resume their full duties without an accommodation, but the employer nevertheless perceives the employee to be too disabled to effectively perform their duties. A “perception of disability” as a cause for employment discrimination is just as illegal as actual disability discrimination.
If You Quit Your Job, You May Lose Right to Prevail in a Lawsuit.
If you quit your job, you may lose your right to prevail in a lawsuit. If you are thinking of quitting, or you think you will be fired, you should know that you may lose your right to prevail in a lawsuit unless you first take certain legally required measures to preserve your job while you are still employed. If you are thinking of quitting, or think you will be fired, you should contact this office immediately to discuss your options in the safest way for you. I am an aggressive and compassionate employment law attorney who is experienced in representing private and public employees with disabilities.
If You Complained about What You Reasonably Believed to Be Your Employer’s Illegal Practices and Your Employer Retaliated
Do not sit on your rights, or you may lose the right to file your claim. If you have been demoted, had your hours cut, terminated, harassed or been subjected to retaliation for complaining about, objecting to, refusing to participate in, or reporting what you believe is your employer’s illegal or improper conduct, you should contact this law firm as soon as possible. I am an experienced and compassionate employment attorney who will be aggressive about enforcing your rights. If you believe you are being discriminated at work because of a disability, or if your employer fails to provide a reasonable accommodation to allow you to remain employed, it is important for you to consult with an experienced employment discrimination attorney. If you are being subjected to such unlawful workplace retaliation, contact Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law today for a free consultation. I accept disability discrimination cases from all over New Jersey.
New Jersey employment attorney, Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law serves clients throughout the state, including Bergen, Middlesex, Essex, Hudson, Monmouth, Ocean, Union, Camden, Passaic, and Morris Counties with locations in Southern, Central, Western and Northern NJ to meet with clients.