If you asked your employer for a reasonable accommodation that would allow you to keep working and your employer denied you the accommodation, it is possible your employer is violating the law. If your employer is discriminating against you because you are disabled, you should contact this office today for a free consultation.
What You Need to Submit to Your Employer
If you are disabled and would be able to do the essential functions of your job with a reasonable accommodation, you should put such request in writing, stating the nature of your disability and why you need this accommodation, and additionally accompany your letter with another letter from your doctor stating the nature of your disability, and requesting what accommodation is needed to allow you to keep working at your job.
This letter should be served on your supervisor and the head of HR, unless your employee handbook directs you to submit this request to a different person, in which case, follow the company rules. Maintain proof that you served these requests for an accommodation, example - as by printing out the email transmission. Make certain you date the letter and retain a printed paper copy of your letter, the doctor’s letter, and proof that it was served on the appropriate persons, for yourself and store such print out copies at home.
The written requests put the employer on notice of their legal duty to engage in an interactive process with the employee to be able to provide the accommodation. It is evidence, should the matter subsequently proceed to litigation, that the employer has been given notice. An employer-employee interactive process is necessary when the employer cannot immediately provide the articulated accommodation requested. For further information on “Reasonable Accommodation”, you may read, “NJ Disability Attorney, Disabled Employees Should Ask in Writing for Reasonable Accommodation”.
The Interactive Process
If your employer cannot provide the exact accommodation requested by your doctor, your employer has a duty to engage in an interactive process with you to see if another accommodation can be provided that will allow you to continue working. If your NJ employer fails to provide such accommodation or fails to engage in an interactive process, your employer may be engaging in illegal discrimination against you based on your disability and violating the Federal ADA and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
Lawsuits for disability discrimination brought under the LAD can be filed more quickly than those filed under the ADA because LAD claims can be filed directly in state court without having to first exhaust administrative process requirements. Additionally, court statistics reveal that employment discrimination plaintiffs fare better in State Court than in Federal Courts where the Court dismisses the employment discrimination lawsuit before it even gets to a trial.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Despite some progress made in recent decades to eradicate the social plague of discrimination against persons with disabilities, many are being shut of their work simply because their employer refuses to provide then with a reasonable accommodation that would allow them to continue working. This is an ongoing problem and a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics study that was released in 2024, indicates there has been little improvement in increased employment statistics in population groups comprised of person living with disabilities, as compared to those without disabilities.
For all age groups, the employment-population ratio was much lower for people with a disability than for those with no disability. Educational achievement did not significancy change this fact. The study showed that unemployment rates were much higher for people with a disability than for those with no disability across all educational attainment groups.
The New Jersey Administrative Code Requires that Each Individual's Ability to Perform a Particular Job Must Be Assessed on an Individual Basis.
Under the New Jersey Administrative Code, N.J.A.C. 13:13-2.5, to be in compliance with the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, all employers must conduct their employment procedures in such a manner as to assure that all people with disabilities (which includes temporary disabilities such as those that may be associated with pregnancy to avoid Pregnancy Discrimination) are given equal consideration with people who do not have disabilities for all aspects of employment including, but not limited to, hiring, promotion, tenure, training, assignment, transfers, and leaves on the basis of their qualifications and abilities. Each individual's ability to perform a particular job must be assessed on an individual basis to not commit Disability Discrimination.
Under § 13:13-2.5 section (b), an employer must make a reasonable accommodation to the limitations of an employee or applicant who is a person with a disability, unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of its business. The determination as to whether an employer has failed to make reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
What You Can Do
I have represented public and private employees with disabilities who were pushed out of jobs because of their disability and was successful in recovering financial compensation for their emotional pain and suffering, and moneys for lost wages, both for past lost wages and projected future lost wages. If your employer is not accommodating your disability to allow you to continue working, or would not engage in the interactive process, or if you think you are being pushed out of your job because you have a disability, you should contact this office immediately for a free consultation. I accept discrimination cases from all over New Jersey.
If You Quit Your Job, You May Lose Right to Prevail in a Lawsuit
In many instances of discrimination, if you quit your job, you may lose 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 handing in a resignation letter, or think you will be fired (or have already been terminated), you should contact this office immediately for a free consultation to discuss your options.
Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law represents workers throughout the entire state, including Hackensack, Jersey City, Newark, Irvington, Orange, East Orange, Trenton, Paterson, Montclair, Elizabeth, North Brunswick, Cherry Hill, Vineland, Union, Plainfield, Hamilton Township, Lakewood, Edison, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Franklin, Lakewood, and every NJ County, including Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex, Essex, Monmouth, Somerset, Ocean, Union, Camden, Passaic, Morris, Gloucester, Atlantic, Burlington, Camden Counties.