Daughter may be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act
Q: A terrible thing has happened. My daughter was in a car accident and has severe facial bruises and lacerations. She may have permanent scaring but we aren’t certain about that. She wants to go back to work as a receptionist at a real estate office but her boss keeps telling her to take more time off. She is beginning to suspect he doesn’t want her to come back because she looks awful. Can he prevent her return?
A: The issues here may be complicated but it seems that if your daughter is correct she may be covered by ADA, the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA is a wide-ranging civil rights law that prohibits, under certain circumstances, discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President H.W. Bush, and later amended with changes effective Jan. 1, 2009.
The law defines disability as “any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, having a record of such an impairment, or being regarded by others as having such an impairment.”
The primary purpose of this law is to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities and to establish clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities. ADA clearly states that this law applies to persons who have substantial, as distinct from minor disabilities, and that these must be impairments that limit major life activities such as seeing, hearing, speaking, walking, breathing, learning and performing manual tasks. An individual with paralysis, a substantial hearing or visual impairment, mental retardation, or a learning disability would be covered. The determination of whether any particular condition is considered a disability is made on a case-by-case basis.
An individual with a minor, non-chronic condition of short duration, such as sprains and broken limbs, would generally not be covered. It might seem that your daughter would fall under this category because her bruises and lacerations will become less noticeable as time goes on. However, if the scarring is severe, she may be covered by the third part of the definition that protects individuals who are regarded and treated as though they have a substantially limiting disability even though they may not have such impairment. For example, this provision would protect someone who has been severely disfigured from being denied employment because the employer feared a negative reaction from others.
If your daughter is not permitted to return to work in a reasonable period of time she should seek the advice of an attorney.
Attorney Sylvia Heldreth is a Certified Specialist in Real Estate Law. Her office is located at 1215 Miramar Street in Cape Coral.
This article is not intended as specific legal advice to anyone and is based upon facts that change from time to time. Individuals should seek legal counsel before acting upon any matter involving the law.