San Diego Disability Accommodation Law

Looking for a leading, San Diego Disability Accommodation Law ? Disability discrimination occurs when an employer treats a disabled employee differently in the workplace or terminates a disabled employee because of the employee’s disability. In the typical scenario, disability discrimination occurs after an employee discloses a disability to their employer and requests that the employer provide accommodation for their disability.

California law protects employees who have a physical or mental “disability.” A “physical disability” is any disease, disorder, condition, disfigurement or anatomical loss that affects a body system and limits a major life activity. A “mental disability” is any mental or psychological disorder that limits a major life activity. 

California law also prohibits employers from discriminating against an employee who the employer perceives to be disabled, even if the employee does not actually have a physical or mental disability.

Yes. California law requires employers to provide disabled employees with “reasonable accommodations” so that employees can continue to perform the essential functions of their jobs. Types of reasonable accommodations an employer could be required to provide is a leave of absence from work so the employee can treat and recover, job restricting, reassignment to a vacant position, part-time or modified work schedules and acquisition or modification of equipment or devices. Although your employer has a duty to accommodate your disability, your employer does not have to provide an accommodation if doing so would create an “undue hardship” to the company.

An employee that brings a disability discrimination claim is entitled to recover all lost wages and earnings incurred because of the discriminatory conduct. This includes both past earnings and those that will be lost in the future. An employee is also entitled to monetary compensation for mental suffering, anxiety, humiliation, and emotional distress, as well as possible punitive damages to deter the employer from engaging in similar conduct in the future.