Disability Discrimination

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination is one of the strongest anti-discrimination statutes in the country in its protection against disability discrimination.  The NJLAD provides even broader protection against disability discrimination than the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act.  Disability discrimination appears in the workplace in various scenarios, including refusal to provide reasonable accommodations, harassment on the basis of disability, refusal to provide proper leave, retaliation for exercising leave, refusal to hire and/or promote, and wrongful termination.  Disabilities protected by the Law Against Discrimination are very broad and even protect against conditions that may not be thought of as traditional disabilities, such as allergies, asthma, depression, obesity, and alcoholism.

Some of our notable and successful disability discrimination cases include Owens v. Department of Treasury, where a pensions worker recovered $650,000 after the denial of her request for reasonable accommodation for her laryngitis lead to permanent vocal paralysis; Leshner v. McCollister’s Transportation Systems, where the Court ruled that a Plaintiff can maintain a cause of action where the employer overworked an employee beyond the point of exhaustion and then refused to accommodate a physician’s request that he be restricted to a normal amount of hours; and Apatoff v. Munich Re Am. Srvcs., in which the Court denied summary judgment, allowing a case to go forward based upon an asthma disability.

If you are experiencing negative treatment in the workplace in New Jersey because of your disability or you have been terminated because of your disability, our discrimination lawyers can advise you on the proper steps to take to protect yourself. Do not expect to get completely accurate information from your employer’s human resources department. We can help you navigate the minefield of disability discrimination law in NJ. Many of these cases are handled on a contingent fee basis (no fee unless recovery). Please call or e-mail now for a free initial telephone consultation.