It’s common knowledge that any kind of workplace discrimination is illegal in the United States, let alone the state of California. Yet research shows that such misconduct is quite common with California employers. In fact, disability discrimination makes up a huge portion of workplace discrimination. It ranks among the top three workplace discrimination lawsuits filed every year.
Disability discrimination is when a person with a disability is treated less favorably than someone without a disability in the same organization. In this scenario, a disability discrimination lawyer will provide you with possible pathways to get you a working solution. However, you must do your research before starting litigation.
Basic steps and considerations
Disability (mental and physical, including HIV/AIDS, cancer, and genetic characteristics) is one of the protected classes in California, USA. Usually, if such an incident occurs within a company, the management would try to settle the issue within the company itself to avoid bad publicity. They would want an individual employees discriminatory actions to jeopardize the health of the entire firm or its dependants.
Hence, it is important to see if you can take steps like reporting an incident within the company. However, if you don’t get a response or it appears that the management is trying to stall you, you might want to look for other options.
Things to consider while getting legal help
When trying to take up an issue with the authorities regarding disability or any kind of discrimination, it most likely will be a David and Goliath situation. It is advised that you seek legal help to tackle the situation. You should also make sure you are making the right choice when hiring legal counsel. You need to consider several factors before jumping into a potentially complex, long and expensive endeavor.
Specialization: First and foremost, you should remember that your requirement is not generic. You need to find an attorney or law firm with extensive experience in the specific area you need legal help for. In this case, you need to find a disability discrimination lawyer.
Size: Sometimes, a case induced from your personal experience might not be a stand-alone incident. There is a chance that it has happened to others and therefore there is a pattern. Things to note in such cases are how long the alleged party has been a part of the organization. Why did they allow such an incident to happen in the first place? Has this happened to anyone else before? Is there a pattern of malpractice? A lawyer with good experience, network and resources would easily deduce your situation. It might as well turn into a class-action lawsuit.
Understanding: You must verify and ensure various things before finalizing your choice of disability discrimination lawyers. The success rate is an important factor to consider, but the most important thing is ensuring that you and your lawyer can establish a trustworthy relationship. A few things to keep in mind would be to clearly communicate and avoid exaggeration of events or lying. Ensure that you avoid unwanted mishaps or contradictions from your side.
Conclusion
Being disabled itself makes things like pursuing a career more challenging at different levels.
To be discriminated against and denied opportunity on the basis of something you never asked for is undoubtedly injustice. Allowing someone to get away with it is an option many go for to avoid further mishaps. Some retaliate with full force on their own.
The former option would encourage making such malpractice a habit and the latter will mostly end up with you being on the wrong side of the law. Probably opting to take a little bit of effort and gather information to move legally is your best bet. Hiring an efficient attorney at law will enable you to protect your rights better, increase your chances of receiving a settlement, and use all the details as efficiently as possible.
