Mar 19 2025
Amanda DeMatteis: Hi, Josh.
Josh Goodbaum: Hi, Amanda. What are we talking about today?
DeMatteis: I thought we would talk about disability discrimination, but in a little bit of a different context than we have in the past. Let’s say a client comes to you and says, “Look, I suffer from a chronic medical condition, and it causes me to slur my words. It causes me to have to use the bathroom frequently. It causes me to have to stand up in meetings. It doesn’t matter if I’m with the CEO of the company or someone else. It’s uncomfortable. I have to stand up every once in a while. And now, all of a sudden, as a result of one of the symptoms of my chronic disability, I’m being disciplined. My employer has written me up for slurring my words. My employer has written me up for excessive use of the bathroom. My employer has written me up for standing up in meetings. What do I do?”
Goodbaum: That’s a difficult situation, Amanda, but it’s a relatively easy one to answer from a legal perspective. If you are being disciplined for a symptom of a medical condition you have, you tell your employer that the reason you have these symptoms is that you have a disability, and then you ask for a reasonable accommodation.
So, if you are required to be at your desk from a specific time to specific time and you have to get up more than the average person to go use the restroom, and the reason is that you have a chronic condition that is treated by a physician that requires you to use the restroom to relieve yourself, you want to tell that to HR. You want to say, “Hey, HR, I have a medical condition. It seems like you think that the reason I’m using the restroom is because I’m a bad employee, but really, I’m a very dedicated employee. I’m just one with a medical condition.” If you’ve done that and your employer is still disciplining you for these symptoms associated with your disability, that’s time to talk with an employment lawyer.
But first, you want to say to your employer and to HR in particular: “It seems like my disability might be affecting my ability to do some of the essential functions of my job. So, I’d really like to get a reasonable accommodation.” If the problem is that you can’t stay seated for long periods of time, well, you should be able to get an accommodation that allows you to stand and sit. Maybe you need a standing desk. Maybe you need a different kind of chair. These are exactly what the Americans with Disabilities Act and its state-level counterpart here in Connecticut, the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act, exist to address. So, your employer should be able to address these things.
Now, in the interactive dialogue that follows your request for a reasonable accommodation, your employer might say, “Hey, listen. Your disability just means that you can’t do the essential functions of your job even with a reasonable accommodation.” Imagine, for example, that you are a person with a hearing disability and, for whatever reason, your job requires you to be able to hear, and there is no technology that allows you to communicate without hearing. Well, it might be that you’re not suited for that job. Your employer is not required to provide you with every job or even continue in your job just because you have a disability. But your employer is required to engage in the process of talking with you about your disability and talking about the available reasonable accommodations so that, hopefully, you are able to continue in your job and you’re able to thrive in that job.
If your employer, instead of engaging in that interactive dialogue, is blaming you and disciplining you for the symptoms associated with your disability, you want to document that clearly to HR. You want to say, “This is not my choice. This is what is happening as a result of my medical condition.” And if your employer persists in that strategy of marginalizing you and demeaning you, then you really want to speak with an employment lawyer at that point.
DeMatteis: That’s great advice. And remember: The best practice for every stage of the advice that Josh just gave is to do it in writing. Notification of your disability? Put it in writing. The request for a reasonable accommodation? Put it in writing. The complaint to HR that says, “My employer, my boss is disciplining me as a result of a symptom associated with my disability”? Put that in writing.
Thank you so much for watching. Josh, thank you for the information. And we’ll see you next time. Take care.
Posted by Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C. in Commentary
Tagged Amanda DeMatteis, Disability Discrimination, Joshua Goodbaum
