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Medical/Disability Discrimination

Medical Condition Discrimination & Disability Discrimination in the Workplace – Overview, Examples & FAQ.

What is Medical Discrimination?

Medical discrimination occurs when an individual is treated improperly because of any mental or physical impairment. In California, employers with at least 5 employees (15 employees under federal law) are prohibited from discriminating against any employee because of a (1) medical condition, (2) mental disability, (3) physical disability, or (4) genetic condition.

In order to be protected against discrimination by either California (Fair Employment and Housing Act) or federal law (Americans with Disabilities Act), it must be determined that the employee has the ability to perform the job’s essential functions. Sometimes this requires a reasonable accommodation. An employer is required to provide a reasonable accommodation to assist an employee in performing their job as long as it would not cause an undue hardship by being either prohibitively expensive or complex. A mere inconvenience to the employer is not enough to allow them to refuse to provide a reasonable accommodation

Examples of Medical Discrimination

So, what does medical discrimination look like at work? The most obvious example is when an individual is terminated from their job or not hired because of their disability. However, medical discrimination comes in many forms.

Medical condition discrimination can occur, for instance, when several individuals with similar qualifications are performing an identical job and the individual with a disability is getting paid less than those without a disability.

Medical discrimination may also occur when an employee’s job is made unnecessarily difficult because their employer, despite knowing their disability, refuses to provide them with reasonable accommodation.

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