Are you afraid that you might be a victim of disability discrimination? Are you unsure of this fact or not? Do you need help finding out if your case is in fact an act of disability discrimination? Here’s a list of the 6 different types of disability discrimination stated by the Equality Act. While the Equality Act is not an official disability law in America, these cases can prove as an example of the situations that you and your lawyer could talk about when discussing disability discrimination.
- Direct discrimination
Direct discrimination is committed when you are treated differently than someone of the same standing who doesn’t have your disability. If because of your disability you are treated worse than someone of a similar situation than you may be a victim of direct discrimination.
And example of this would if you are interviewed and passed up for a position because of your disability. More specifically, if you were to tell the potential employer that you have are partially blind. If he then does not hire you because he thinks working with you may seem too much. That is direct discrimination. - Indirect discrimination
This, of course, should not be confused with indirect discrimination. Indirect discrimination is when an organization’s policies affect you in a negative way because of your disability. An example of this would be if the same job employer from the earlier example were to use an online application. What if that application was not easy for you to read someone who’s partially blind? In addition, you cannot use and reading application or tool for the application program. This counts as indirect discrimination.
Keep in mind however that the employer can later try to prove that there was a good reason for the policy, in this case the application. - Failure to Make Reasonable Adjustments
That’s right, if your employer or organization fails to adjust for you that can be called a sort of disability discrimination. As another example, if you used a wheelchair as a form of mobility, you would need things such as a ramp to get into the building and possibly a parking spot close to the building. If the employer refuses to give you a spot than you may have a case for disability discrimination. - Discrimination Arising from Disability
Next on the list of the different types of disability discrimination is discrimination arising from disability. What this means is that someone who knows you have a disability cannot discriminate against you for something connected to your disability. For instance, back to the partially blind scenario. If you were told not to come into work with sunglasses, but you needed them to protect your eyes that might count as discrimination. - Harassment
Next, we have harassment as one of the types of disability discrimination. This one is slightly like the last type, but it is also slightly different. If you are humiliated or offended by someone because of your disability it could count as harassment. Another example using the partially blind setup would be if you were yelled at or called names by coworkers. If this were to happen you could file against those coworkers with a harassment case in mind. - victimization
Lastly, we have victimization. This happens when someone responds negatively to a complaint concerning disability discrimination. For instance, in the last scenario the employee with the disability was being discriminated against by coworkers. What if when he or she went to the employer the employer threatened to fire the employee. Ultimately, this action could lead to a wrongful termination settlement.
Discrimination in any from is wrongful. Whether it be age discrimination, racial discrimination, or one of the different types of disability discrimination. What’s important is to know what types of discrimination are out there and if you are capable of filing a law suit for any wrongful action taken against you.
That said, make sure to always talk to a lawyer first before jumping into a lawsuit. If you don’t have a lawyer, look for one that is suitably capable of handling such cases. They are the key to making sure that this hateful act taken against you never happens again. Either to you or to anyone else.