Home » Commentary » Are You Protected From Discrimination If You Don’t Have a Disability but Are Closely Associated with Someone Who Does?

Josh Goodbaum: Hi, Amanda.

Amanda DeMatteis: Hi, Josh. What are we gonna talk about today?

Goodbaum: I want to talk about disability discrimination. We’ve talked a lot about disabilities in our videos before. We’ve talked about asking for a reasonable accommodation and what you do if a reasonable accommodation is denied. We’ve talked about FMLA leave if you have a serious health condition. But sometimes, an employee is not the person with the disability. Sometimes, the person with the disability is someone with whom the employee has a close association — often a child or a parent; or it could be another immediate family member or even a close friend – just someone with whom they have a close association. If that happens, if an employee is experiencing discrimination because of their close association with a person with a disability, do they have any rights?

DeMatteis: This is one of those issues that differs under state and federal employment law. Under our federal law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, you are protected from discrimination if you are associated with a person that has a disability. That can be a parent, that can be a child, that could be a life partner that you are not married to, it could be a very close friend. If your employer is discriminating against you on the basis of your association with that disabled person, that is actionable under federal law.

Now, under state law, for folks that live in Connecticut, of course, we have the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act, which recognizes disability discrimination. But it does not recognize associational disability discrimination. So, if you’re associated with a person that has a disability, you don’t have any protection under our state CFEPA.

Now, as Josh appropriately said, we’ve talked a lot about reasonable accommodation. Under both Connecticut law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, if you are a person that lives with a disability and you need a reasonable accommodation to perform the essential functions of your job, then you are entitled to one under both state and federal law.

If, though, you are associated with a person that has a disability, you are not entitled to a reasonable accommodation to perform the essential functions of your position. So, that’s a really important distinction. You can receive a reasonable accommodation for your own disability but not for anyone else’s.

However, you may be entitled to FMLA leave related to someone else’s disability. So, if you are caring for an immediate family member with a disability and you need to step away from work for a period of time to do that, then you have protection under both the federal FMLA and state FMLA.

So, it’s important to talk to an employment lawyer about the nuances here. If you are associated with a person with a disability, there is some protection under federal law, and you might be able to get yourself some protected time away from the workplace to be able to care for your family member or close friend.

Goodbaum: Really important information, Amanda, for those who are connected with a person with a disability, if they’re thinking they might be experiencing associational disability discrimination, or if they need some time away to help care for a person who is living with a disability.

Thank you all so much for watching. We’ll see you next time.

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