Disability laws prohibits employment discrimination when it comes to any aspect of the employment process including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, benefits, and other terms or conditions of employment. Nonetheless, some who suffer from a disability remain concerned that their disability status will prevent them from getting a job and wonder if they have to reveal their disability during a job interview.
During the hiring process specifically, a job candidate is not required to disclose that they have a disability and the employer may not ask a job applicant to answer disability related questions, to include asking if they have a disability, before extending a conditional job offer. This guards against employers unlawfully considering an applicant’s disability in the selection process.
That said, some inquiries during the hiring process are permitted. For example, before offering a candidate a job, an employer may ask if the applicant will need an accommodation to perform a specific duty without ascertaining whether a disability exists. This allows the employer to determine through an informal interactive process what an applicant needs to perform the job and identify an appropriate reasonable accommodation where possible. When a job applicant requests job modification, employers must provide reasonable accommodations unless doing so would cause undue hardship for the employer.
After a job is offered, the law does allow an employer to condition the job offer on an applicant answering disability related questions and/or passing a medical exam to determine if the employer can safely perform the job with a reasonable accommodation if applicable..
Employers are in violation of federal law if they terminate an employee for not disclosing a disability during a job interview or waiting until being hired to ask for an accommodation. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, an employer is prohibited from penalizing an employee for not raising issues of disability and reasonable accommodation during the hiring process because he or she is not legally required to divulge that information. If an employee is subject to an adverse employment action on the basis of a disability, the employer is vulnerable to an employment discrimination lawsuit.
If you are a victim of workplace discrimination due to disability, contact the employment discrimination lawyers of Alan C. Olson & Associates for immediate assistance today at 262-785-9606.
