Reasonable Accommodation Vs. Undue Hardship: Legal Battles in California Workplaces

Fighting for Your Rights Against Workplace Discrimination in California

It’s always challenging to face blatant acts of discrimination at work, which can often cause feelings of loss and injustice. Discrimination of any kind in the workplace is not tolerated in California. It is important to remember that you have rights and you don’t have to fight it alone.

If you have faced discrimination of any sort in the workplace, you will need an experienced, aggressive and tenacious lawyer to fight for you. California’s employment laws themselves also tend to be confusing and complex, which is why you also need an educated and experienced legal team at your side. At Odell Law, our compassionate and experienced employment lawyers will fight aggressively for your rights to ensure you get the compensation you are entitled to. Call our office at 949-771-8173 for a free consultation.

What is Employment Discrimination?

Employment discrimination occurs when an employer treats employees differently from their colleagues due to race, gender, orientation, nationality, age, religion, disability, pregnancy or any other protected class defined by California’s laws – primarily California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”). If you are a victim of any form of discrimination in your workplace, it needs to stop immediately.

The dedicated employment law attorneys at Odell Law represent victims of workplace discrimination throughout Orange County and Los Angeles and we will help to obtain the justice and compensation you are entitled to.

How Does California Employment Law Protect My Rights?

The Fair Housing and Employment Act of California forbids workplace discrimination based upon race, color, or religion; national origin, ancestry, or mental or physical disability; medical condition, age, marital status, or sexual orientation; or pregnancy; and sex, gender, gender identity, or gender expression. This means that an employer cannot, under any circumstances, treat you differently from your colleagues based solely on any of these things.

Furthermore, there are multiple federal laws prohibiting workplace discrimination. These include:

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 declares in Title VII that there can be no discrimination due to race, sex, national origin, religion, or retaliation for protected EEO activity;
• The Civil Rights Act of 1991 created specific remedies for prevailing parties and prohibited certain discriminatory practices.
• The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 forbid discrimination against individuals with disabilities.
• Equal Pay Act (EPA), bans discrimination in the payment of wages to men and women when performing equal work in the same establishment;
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) shields employees age 40 and older from employer discrimination in hiring, discharge, pay, promotions, fringe benefits, and other aspects of employment;
• The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act outlaws discrimination based on genetic information.

What Is A Reasonable Accommodation?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities who are applicants for employment unless doing so would cause undue hardship. Reasonable accommodation is any change to the working environment or job duties that will allow the employee to perform the job and enjoy the benefits of employment the same as any other employee who is not disabled.

What is Meant by Undue Hardship?

Undue Hardship is any “action requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of several other factors.” It’s determined on a case-by-case basis. The larger the employer, the more effort they are expected to expend on meeting the needs of all their employees regardless of ability.

Unfortunately, we live in a time in which employers will often use the undue hardship exception as a way to discriminate against disabled employees. Such employers will claim that a requested reasonable accommodation is too expensive, too complicated or causes too big of a disruption to other employees or workflow and, as such, they may try to terminate the disabled individual from their position. This behavior is illegal and must be stopped. If your employer is refusing to grant your reasonable accommodations and is falsely claiming that it would be an undue hardship to do so, we can help.

How Are Employment Discrimination Cases Fought?

At Odell Law, our employment lawyers work tenaciously to prosecute offending employers and to obtain an out-of-court settlement agreeable to all parties. When this is impossible, we will continue to push the case to trial to hold the employer fully accountable and to obtain the damages you deserve. No one should be made to feel inferior in their work environment. Our employment discrimination lawyers will fight aggressively for you.

What Types of Damages Are Awarded for Employment Discrimination?

Every case is different, and therefore, no complete prediction can be made about the outcome of your case. Generally, there are two types of compensation often awarded to victims of workplace discrimination, which are:

• Compensatory Damages– Compensatory damages pay victims for any monetary loss or expenses incurred due to the loss of employment. These usually include items like the value of past lost wages and benefits due to your unemployment and the value of any lost future wages that you will continue to lose. Compensatory damages also cover the emotional trauma you have experienced as a result of any discrimination or wrongful termination, like mental anguish or loss of enjoyment of life.
• Punitive Damages—Punitive damages are awarded when an employer has been especially malicious in discriminatory actions and deserved to be punished for this type of malicious behavior. There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach as punitive damages are adjusted up or down depending on the size and wealth of the defendant employer, as the purposes of punitive damages are to send a clear message of deterrence for the illegal conduct to ensure it will not happen to others.
  You may be eligible for one or both types of damages based on the evidence presented.

When Should I Contact an Employment Discrimination Attorney?

No one should have to go to work and be made to feel inferior. If you are the victim of workplace discrimination due to your disability, your employer has broken the law and must be stopped. Call the offices of Odell Law at 949-771-8173 for your free consultation.