Understanding Associational Discrimination Claims Under the ADA

Many of us are unfamiliar with our legal responsibilities under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the requirement to avoid discrimination towards and to accommodate those with recognized disabilities.

But one part of the ADA that many people don’t know even exists is the prohibition on discriminating against those employees who are associated with those who have disabilities—even if the employee has no disability.

What is Associational Discrimination?

It’s called associational discrimination and it’s where someone is discriminated against at work or in hiring because of a relationship with a disabled person.

How would this even happen?

Imagine an applicant whose husband is home with cancer. You don’t hire that applicant because you are concerned that in caring for the husband, the applicant wife would miss too much work or be distracted at work.

Or, you are concerned that with her husband having cancer, there is one working spouse, so the applicant will want too much money in salary and you don’t hire her.

Imagine someone with a relative that has HIV, and although you know HIV doesn’t just travel or spread through the air, you don’t want other employees concerned, so you don’t hire that employee.

Basically, any assumptions by an employer made about an employee with an association to a disabled person is a violation of the ADA.

What Relationship?

Technically, there does not need to be a blood or familial relationship between the employee or applicant and the disabled person. So, for example, a step father and step son, or even a woman and her roommate, may be relationships connected enough to provide protection under the ADA.

No Accommodation Needed

There is one major difference between disability under the ADA and associational disability.

With a disabled employee, the employer must not discriminate and also must make a reasonable accommodation at work for the disabled employee.

But with associational disability, the employer does not have to make accommodations for the associated employee (assuming the employee is, himself, not disabled).

In other words, employers don’t have to accommodate those associated with disabled persons, but the employer can still be sued for discriminating against someone for being associated with a disabled person.

That means that an employer need not accommodate, for example, a mother who needs extra time off from work to care for her ADA-disabled son (although other laws, like family medical leave, may require allowing time off).

Negative Work Consequences

Remember that discrimination need not be insults or derogatory statements. Any adverse employment actions could be considered discrimination as well. This may include exclusion from training, or bad marks in an employee file, or non-preferred assignments, or other, more subtle ways of holding employees back, just because they are associated with a disabled person.

Do you have a comprehensive employment law policy at work? Develop policies that keep you from getting in trouble for violating labor and employment laws. Call the West Palm Beach commercial litigation lawyers at Pike & Lustig today.

Source:

eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/questions-answers-association-provision-ada