When Must HR Accommodate You?
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
- This is part 2 in our video series on reasonable accommodations for disabled workers. When must HR accommodate you? When can they fire you? This legal video will answer most of the common questions that employees have.
Branigan Robertson is an employment lawyer in Orange County, California. His firm exclusively represents employees in lawsuits against their employers.
Visit his website at: brobertsonlaw.com
Please subscribe to Branigan's channel!
00:00 - Reasonable Accommodation Introduction
00:48 - Employers Refuse to Accommodate Disabled Workers
01:42 - Contact Information
02:10 - What the ADA Prohibits Companies from Doing
04:30 - What is a "Disability?"
06:02 - What is a "Major Life Activity?"
06:40 - Physical Disability Examples
08:03 - Mental Disability Examples
09:09 - What is a "Reasonable Accommodation?"
09:48 - Accommodation Examples
11:13 - What is "Reasonable?"
12:38 - ADA Only Applies to Employers Who Have 15 or More Employees
13:06 - CA Law Applies to Employers Who Have 5 or More Employees
13:35 - Perceived Disabilities
14:26 - Excluded Disabilities
15:29 - Conclusion
#accommodation #humanresources #employment
Have you ever requested an accommodation at work? If so, for what? Was it granted or denied?
First of all, ADD isn’t a thing anymore. It is now just labeled ADHD with 3 types, inattentive, hyperactive, and combo. I find it interesting that you are a lawyer and the government look at ADHD the way you explained it. First of all, ADHD has been added to the ASD or autism spectrum disorder spectrum. Although it hasn’t been categorized as Autism yet, it is part of the spectrum. I wish I could explain this logic, but many neuropsychologists and ADHD and Autism experts are leaning towards ADHD being another presentation of ASD/autism. You also need to look at the fact that many if not all (I am on the side that ADHD is another presentation of ASD) people with ADHD are autistic, and a huge number of Autistic people are ADHD. The crossover is huge. Since only about 1 in 200 psychiatrists are trained in Autism, most adults with ASD go undiagnosed till later. The average autistic is misdiagnosed as some kind of depression, anxiety, bipolar, or other mental health issue and put on 7 different wrong medications. With this knowledge how can any government determine that an ADHD person’s ADHD isn’t bad enough? Who are these people deciding if it is bad enough? It literally f*cked up my life for 57 years, even though I was diagnosed at 30 years old. It took till 57 to get treatment, at which point I found out that I was also autistic and then 3 years later I was diagnosed with OCD. Neurodivergences travel in packs, so if you have one you more than likely have many.
Also, just because someone’s ADHD doesn’t seem to affect their daily life at work doesn’t mean that it isn’t affecting their work life in a major way. Just as with Autistic brained people, ADHD-brained people are often forced into masking and it is exhausting and can cause major burnout. Masking is the act of pretending to be “normal” or neurotypical to try to fit in and especially to keep a job. Just because an ADHD person looks fine at work doesn’t mean that the person doesn’t go home completely overwhelmed and exhausted, unable to function for the rest of the night and often is useless the entire weekend. Some powerful accommodations make ADHD people’s lives so much easier. The fact that most experts see it as autism spectrum disorder and it is already part of the spectrum even if it isn’t called ASD yet, should therefore qualify for the same accommodations as say someone like me who is autistic/ADHD/OCD or AuDHD/OCD.
Yes I was written up for sitting down I told my boss that I had an injury he said get an accommodation and if we can't accommodate you you have find work somewhere else I said I might want to talk to someone about that he said go ahead I shook hands with everyone in the building so I got a Dr's note and told my supervisors
Unfortunately yes. Even with a doctor's note requesting a minor & reasonable accommodation to sit periodically. Not only did management refuse to accommodate, they also then removed our chairs from our job location after my request. Then they sent me home for 2 months. Now I find out from customers that my manager is making fun of my disability and and disclosing my private medical information to customers. 🤯🤷♂️🤦♂️
@@bryans.7220 they got you too
@@bryans.7220 Wow. Have you talked to a lawyer?
People need to understand that HR is not your friend. They are the operational arm of the legal department, nothing more
There is actually a little known exception to that. They're also basically doctors.
@@davidblaske6911lol come again?
I am your fan since years :) thank you for creating all these videos, never stop pleaseee :)
Perfect timing for my case! I'm super excited to hear the rest of the series! My employer tried pushing me down the road of long term Disability and then quickly fired me for "work performance" instead on the same day that I went to my Dr. Appointment. Now, a year later, they're trying to reinstate a disability case. My attorney and a rep from the insurance provider said it's disability insurance fraud, and they're trying to get the insurance carrier to pay for what they did to me. I was just wondering if this is a common stunt? Anyone else, experience this? I just made it through the EEOC investigation and am getting my right-to-sue. My accommodations were granted at first, and no one would help me (it was a game to set me up for failure) then instead they said I was creating an undue hardship, but that quickly went away and then terminated me for my performance after being served by the EEOC.
Omg this is timely! A few days ago, my boss screamed at me and allowed my coworker to scream at me and hurl false allegations for 45 minutes straight. I stayed completely calm and explained that the things I was being chastised for were results of an ADA protected disability, and my boss called me a liar and refused to even look at the papers proving disability. I was literally called stupid, petty, and childish for 'using hand gloves to insult' the complaining co-worker by subliminally calling her dirty. I'm trying to plan my next step.
Yes I agree very agree. It happened to me before a lot. I will take action now.
What horrible thing for them to do!
t's pretty awful how much it has impacted every moment of my life since it happened well over a year ago. I just wanted to let you know that my situation/case would be nothing without the guidance and experience of your RUclips. You are so appreciated.
This channel is an automatic jewel! I always keep in mind your wise words.
Oops, almost sent this to my boss! Two of the locations for the posters about ADA and discrimination are in both of the offices of the two people denying my RA.
The tile ‘Human Resources’ says it all. The employee is a resource for the company and is not considered human. When/if the employee requires assistance, termination is the result. Additionally, do not be fooled by unions. They don’t have your back and that is from personal experience.
I went for an interview ...the HR was supposed to take my interview. I sat there for 5 hours ...but HR didn't come ...so I left the interview venue ...
We want the next episodes!! This is great!
Really excited about the next video. Keep on being amazing! Wish your firm was in my state!
Thank you so much for all your work for Us!
i've been following for years. surprised you don't have more followers!
Every time I've filled out an accommodation form I feel like the employer is trying to do the bare minimum they are required to rather than actually doing what's right and good for the company in the long term.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of companies out there like this.
Great videos! I love your videos. I have learnt a lot by watching them.
Thank you Robert!
Thank you for doing more vids. I have been watching your vids and taking notes for my case against DFW Airport Board (currently in 5th Circuit Appeals) and you provide so much info it has helped me discuss this with my legal team.
I am 100% disabled Army veteran with hip, back and knee issues.
My case has a few parts...
Failure to accommodate in current position, for which I requested a taller table and chair with a back. These were called "an undue hardship" by DFW Airport.
I then requested a reassignment and they agreed (I have this convo recorded). They then claimed they had better candidates for all 61 positions I applied for, many of which were not even in the hiring process but were still open and vacant, so they would not have even had other candidates applying.
They then fired me for exceeding 180days of disability leave which they forced me onto by refusing to let me come in and work while figuring out my reasonable accommodations.
I have internal emails for the DFW Risk Management where they stated, "keep telling him it is an undue hardship until his time runs out and we can fire him."
If you are asking, "That sounds like a strong case, why are you in Appeals Court?"
My attorney was just as confused when the summary decision went against us. We obviously were shocked and strongly disagreed with the decision, so we appealed. We are very confident we will prevail, and we have oral arguments in New Orleans in early August.
Good luck!
Lot of shenanigans back at the airport on day 179 I can only imagine
@@davidblaske6911 ok, 179 out of the 180 medical leave. I doubt it, they had this planned for months and were just watching my time tick away. They would take 2-4wks to reply to emails, then not including job information I needed, so I was forced to call friends that were there to look at the jobs and tell me what was open and then I would email risk telling them I wanted to apply for it. Wait weeks, no reply, send email asking for update, "they had stronger candidates". There was ZERO cooperation, just stalling. It was so frustrating to be trying to get back to work to have them do this to me. This was my dream job, I had wanted to do it since I was 16, and finally got it, just to have it taken away after almost 5yrs because I was a disabled vet who finally requested accommodations rather than just suffering silently every day I was at work. I had days where my coworkers had to help me to my car because I could barely walk. Then DFW claims they are a veteran friendly workplace. Total fucking BS.
3:13 On the surface that seems like an extreme example, but I live in Texas & I remember being in college for graphic design and another student said something about receiving flack because they wanted that as their major also. They were actually trying to take a Desktop Publishing course. Problem was they were blind. When the student complained were were basically told they had to be allowed to take the class.
I wish in Ontario Canada , There is some lawyers like you for disabillity employees.
I was told by my job I would get fired if get a reasonable accomidation for my leg. I had a tbi and leg injury in Iraq. Then they gave me a bigger workload then anyone else and forced me to do my work and work assigned to someone else until I snapped
And you didn't sue them?
@@ubcroel4022 no
Hard to believe ADA was written so recently in 1990. What was the workplace like before then?
There were few ramps. If you were in a wheelchair, life was tough. Beyond that, it was a bit before my time, so idk.
What if you are interviewing for a new job. At what point of a new job offer and are hired when do you let them know that you need reasonable accommodations? Lets say you can perform the job but need some accommodations for appts.for treatments. You want to get the job without them judging.
Branigan, can you please do a video about the concept of donating PTO/vacation time to a coworker? I worked at a place where I was constantly targeted for such and I didn't like the policy.
My friend was fired from her job after she had to go to the emergency room for a problem with her breathing whereby she could not breathe. She told her manager about this and within a month she was fired upon being fired. Behind being fired, she was giving a “severance agreement“ which forbid her from suing her employer for any reason. Does she still have a case under the special circumstances section of the law?
HI. It is impossible to get accommodation for a hidden disability for an exam from CalHR. CalHR argued the doctor's note only said I have a disability and said I needed accommodation, but the notice didn't list the accommodation I needed. It is impossible to ask the doctor to list the accommodation on the list because I have medical, and it pays doctor so little on it.
I was injured at work and the injury unfortunately resulted in a permanent condition. My employer agreed to provide me with an accommodated position after my workers comp case manager requested it, but I've been sitting at home for 8 months waiting for the accommodated position to be offered to me. I have no idea what the accommodation entails, and my employer has been ignoring calls and emails from both myself and my case manager. Technically, I'm still employed but I have no idea whats going on.
Good afternoon Branigan, love your videos🙌🏼 I am wondering if you may know a good employment attorney in Maryland? I work for Kaiser Permanente but in Mid-Atlantic and in desperate need of help. Thanks for your time in advance
Is the law still valid/apply if HR and supervisor are not experienced in reasonable accommodation process? Can employers get away with a law they are not equipped to handle and understand? My job kept telling me that the chairs in my area is in the process of removal even though I require a chair to be able to work.
The law applies regardless of whether or not HR and management is experienced/knowledgeable about the accommodation process.
@@braniganrobertsonlaw thank you!
Must HR accommodate a mental health condition, like anxiety?
Yes, but they might need a doctor to diagnose and issue what you can and cannot do.
I'm going to talk more about that in the next video. Should be published next week. Stay tuned.
I noticed the similarities in _Canadian Human Rights Act_ . It only actually covers 7% of employees in Canada but includes my employer--elsewhere provincial laws apply. It has no exclusions for small employers or specific disabilities. It went viral recently when a trucker couldn't be fired because they had an accident while drunk because they were an alcoholic. As long as the worker was participating in treatment for the disability and can perform the essential functions, they cannot be discriminated against. We also have the concept of _undue hardship_ which captures the _essential functions_ part since failure to perform an _essential function_ is automatically an _undue hardship_ . In Canada you don't have to provide a diagnosis and my union is fighting our company on this.
In the USA, a company would absolutely be allowed to fire an employee if they were caught drunk driving. It would not matter if they were seeking treatment or not. There is no law that would protect someone for doing that here.
@@braniganrobertsonlaw I think it is just the natural consequences when addictions are a disability and the principles of accommodation are applied uniformly. I don't claim to condone those outcomes.
Thank you so much for this information. I work at a Fortune 50 company and they like to play hide the ball. They don’t inform me of my accommodation rights as they relate to my medical 🏥 conditions. Your videos are invaluable. Thank you for your generosity.
Does anyone know of companies that hire people with service dogs?
11:35 what is a undo hardship?
You mean the definition? Undue hardship means it's unreasonably difficult or expensive.
What if the company has 5+ employees but only 2 are on payroll and the rest are payed under the table ?
Good question. I would suspect that if you can provide enough evidence they are treated as employees, a judge would rule that the 5+ threshold is met. But it would depend on all the facts of the case and the judge you get.
@@braniganrobertsonlaw i wish I would’ve found you before this. The lawyer that I have right now doesn’t inform me of anything unless I call them and ask for an update. I haven’t worked in 3 months and still haven’t seen a doctor (in Los Angeles country)
they don’t have to, they can find ways to get rid of you.
Looking for shady ways video is it up yet?
not yet. next week. stay tuned.
@@braniganrobertsonlawboy do I have evidence of shady ways. Hope you are enjoying Mother’s Day with family!
What if... im COMPLETELY disabled by a 'common cold' ? completely unable to function looking and feelikg like shit, can barely move
same with adhd, it completely makes me useless, they cant tell if im lying or im disfunctional... can they?
Depends on where you live. Short answer, no.
I have asthma and colds usually make breathing hard, and even I don’t qualify.
Why three intros?
I got denied by my Nazi HRD. if i told you my story you would not believe it. So i took my, Denied Resonable Accommodation into my own hands.
Yes potential employers have to make reasonable accommodations, they don't hire you.
Unless you are a contractor. Then nothing applies.
Brian...hi... haaaaaaaaaaaaaa...
It jus takes the life outta me to even look for...ask...come on here. Im so freaking TIRED of the people (liars).
My comment is for the defamation video. But its a video so thought to comment on a current one to reach out for your...thoughts.
If u don't mind getting back with me on the defamation video plz.