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Matthew Weinick
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Disability Discrimination

Famighetti & Weinick PLLC is an employment law firm on Long Island. Our Long Island disability discrimination lawyers are ready to stand up for your workplace rights.

Employees who are disabled in New York should feel included, not secluded in the workplace. Federal, state, and city laws prohibit employers from discriminating against employees or applicants because of an actual or perceived disability. Employers are prohibited from taking certain employment actions against a disabled employee or applicant that relate to hiring, firing, promotions, benefits, or work assignments.

Under the disability discrimination laws, the following acts are also illegal in the workplace:

  1. Failing to accommodate an employee if the request is reasonable and the employer is able to do so without any difficulty or undue hardship;
  2. Wrongfully terminating or otherwise negatively affecting an employee’s job based on his or her relationship with another individual with a disability – Also known as associational discrimination;
  3. Harassing employees in a harshly demeaning and offensive manner and effectively creating a hostile work environment for the employee because the employee has a disability or the employer perceives the employee as having a disability; OR
  4. Retaliating against employees who file disability discrimination complaints either internally within the human resources department for example, or through an administrative agency, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the New York State Division of Human Rights”(NYSDHR).

If you need a reasonable accommodation due to an underlying medical condition, you must inform your employer. For example, telling your employer, “I’m having a back problem and it really hurts to sit down. Can you reassign my job responsibilities?” would be a request for a reasonable accommodation. On the other hand, merely mentioning to an employer, “I need a new chair this one is uncomfortable,” would not be a sufficient request for a reasonable accommodation. In other words, it is important to tie whatever accommodation it is that you need with a your medical condition.

After appropriately requesting an accommodation, it is the employer’s responsibility to engage in further conversations with you and brainstorm how they could make your request work. This is called the interactive process. If after these back and forth conversations, your employer realizes that accommodating your request would cause the business an undue hardship, then your request may be denied. However, your employer should tell you why it is an undue hardship and cannot just say so to avoid accommodating you.

At Famighetti & Weinick PLLC, our Long Island discrimination attorneys understand that employees with disabilities are not defined by their disabilities. However, Federal, New York State, and New York City laws, have specific legal definitions for what constitutes a disability. The varying definitions tend to be tricky and convoluted so its important to consult with an experienced Long Island disability discrimination lawyer.

While the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL), and New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) protect employees from being treated unfairly because of a disability, state and city laws are broader than federal law – with New York City’s disability discrimination law generally providing the most protection.

Broader laws are an indication that New York wants to help employees with disabilities who are treated unfairly due to a medical condition. The Long Island disability discrimination lawyers at Famighetti & Weinick PLLC, also want to help! We provide free consultations for employees with disabilities. Contact us to schedule an appointment today.

Client Reviews
★★★★★
From my personal experience, Matthew Weinick has always managed to go above and beyond as an attorney. While handling my case, he was very professional, supportive and reassuring. It was easy to see his devotion in bringing me justice from day one. I saw how invested he was which motivated me to take the stand and fight for my rights. I am extremely grateful that he agreed to take on my case and I could not have asked for better legal representation or consult. Ariel Kaygisiz
★★★★★
Very grateful for all the hard work! Mr. Famighetti did an amazing job. He was very knowledgeable and I was always kept up to date on the details of our matter. I appreciate the attentiveness and the time taken to explain each step and answer any questions I had during the process. I would absolutely recommend Mr. Famighetti and his firm Famighetti & Weinick to anyone. Danielle
★★★★★
Matt Weinick is an excellent attorney. With his assistance I was able to get exonerated from false allegations against me. Sara
★★★★★
Mr. Weinick is the utmost professional. I called him for help with an employment issue and I was in his office the next day for a free, almost hour long, consultation. I ultimately retained him for his services and his professionalism continued, he is extremely talented and well versed in employment law and he answers emails immediately, he even emailed me a few times to check on how things were progressing. I cannot thank Mr. Weinick enough for his help, and I wouldn't hesitate to call him again if necessary. Hopefully there will be no need, but in today's employment landscape you never know. Thanks again. Tom Orlik