People with disabilities face many challenges. Being denied employment or losing their jobs simply because they have disabilities should not be one of them, but too often it is. Pursuing legal action after you have endured disability discrimination can seem daunting, and it is not something you should undertake on your own. If you have been fired, demoted, suspended, or otherwise adversely treated because of your disability, get in touch with an experienced New York disability discrimination lawyer to discuss your situation and the legal options you have.
One of the key things to know about proving discrimination in a New York City Human Rights Law case is that the NYCHRL allows workers to succeed when the evidence shows competing motivations for an adverse action, some discriminatory and some not. As a court in a recent disability discriminatory case summarized, a worker “may prove a disability discrimination claim under the NYCHRL if he proves that unlawful discrimination was one of the motivating factors, even if it was not the sole motivating factor” for the adverse action.
The employee in that disability discrimination case, I.N., was a project manager at an international weight loss company headquartered in Midtown. The manager underwent six rounds of chemotherapy in 2016 which substantially weakened his immune system. After returning to work in the fall of 2016, the manager experienced illness “each time he worked from the office," so the manager’s supervisor informally allowed him to work a “flexible work-from-home schedule.”
In March 2018, the company promoted W.M. to Senior Director, placing him over I.N.’s department. By late 2018, the new Senior Director implemented a “restrictive work-from-home policy” and I.N.’s supervisor began asking him to work from the office rather than remotely.
The employer placed the project manager on a performance improvement plan (PIP) in November 2019 after the failure of a project to which he contributed. He was fired on January 2, 2020.
The project manager sued for disability discrimination under the NYCHRL. The employer tried to get the case thrown out, but the judge concluded that the project manager had a viable disability discrimination claim.
The Four Elements of a Disability Discrimination Claim
When taking on a disability discrimination lawsuit, you must clear several hurdles. The first is establishing that the impairment you have meets the law’s standard for “disabled.” Under the NYCHRL, that means demonstrating that you have a “physical, medical, mental or psychological impairment, or a history or record of such impairment.” The NYCHRL says that a qualifying impairment is “any impairment of any system of the body, including, but not limited to: the neurological system; the musculoskeletal system; the special sense organs and respiratory organs… speech organs; the cardiovascular system; the reproductive system; the digestive and genito-urinary systems; the hemic and lymphatic systems; the immunological systems; the skin; and the endocrine system.”
In addition to proving that you are a person with a disability, you also have to establish that you were qualified for the job you held and that you suffered some form of adverse employment action. Adverse employment actions can be anything from termination, suspension, or demotion to lateral transfers or modified schedules as long as they negatively impacted you in some tangible way (such as offering less opportunity to get promoted or less opportunity to maintain the income you were earning.)
Lastly, and the key to many cases, is the requirement that you show that “the adverse action occurred under circumstances giving rise to an inference of discrimination.” Under the NYCHRL, a worker can successfully demonstrate an inference of discrimination using many different forms of evidence, including “invidious comments about others in the employee's protected group, or the more favorable treatment of employees not in the protected group.”
In the project manager’s case, his status as disabled was undisputed, as were his qualifications for the job, and the existence of adverse actions (the PIP and the termination.)
The employer’s argument for throwing out the discrimination claim asserted that the circumstances in I.N.’s case could not possibly create an inference of discrimination. The employer’s underlying theory was that I.N. was placed on a PIP and later fired because his work was subpar, as evidenced by the failed project.
Comments That Created an Inference of Discrimination
The project manager provided the court with proof that his work product was not the only thing that colored the employer’s decision-making. He presented Slack messages between his supervisor and the Senior Director showing that they knew he “continued to suffer from a disability.” Specifically, his supervisor stated over the app that "I genuinely believe that he does not feel well most of the time." In subsequent messages, though, the Senior Director opined that “I hope he understands. And just gets… into the office,” to which I.N.’s supervisor replied, “He pushed it too far. ... he could have easily avoided this.”
The project manager defeated the employer’s motion because his proof made for a viable mixed-motives case. The totality of the evidence the project manager presented created a “triable issue” regarding whether his remote work accommodation (which he received because of his immunocompromised state) was an element (even if not the only element) that led to the PIP and the subsequent termination.
Disability discrimination is illegal in New York. If you believe this type of impermissible employment conduct has harmed you, you owe it to yourself to discuss the matter with experienced legal professionals. The knowledgeable New York disability discrimination attorneys at Phillips & Associates have the tools and skills to help you analyze your situation and determine if you have been the victim of a violation of city, state, or federal prohibitions against discrimination. To learn more, contact us online or at (866) 229-9441 to set up a free and confidential consultation.