If I have been denied a promotion and have just found out it is due to a disease that I suffer from, what I can do?
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If I have been denied a promotion and have just found out it is due to a disease that I suffer from, what I can do?
I have Minears disease. I work in a call center and due to this disease I cannot wear a headset. However, they simply accommodated me and moved me to the email team. I have applied 4 times for a promotion and was not even interviewed 3 times. I have now found out I will never be promoted based on this disease even though the jobs I am applying for do not require wearing a headset. Basically, they state I cannot do the job even though I have proven I can.
Asked on January 20, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Nevada
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
It is possible that this constitutes illegal employment discrimination against the disabled. Not all medical conditions qualify as a disability for this purpose, but yours might, if it cannot be controlled or remediated. If you would be classified as disabled, then a company may only take negative employment action against you (e.g. not promote you, if you are otherwise qualified) if you cannot do the job with a "reasonable accomodation." (A reasonable accomodation is something not too expensive or disruptive--like letting a one-armed employee have a phone headset rather than requiring him to use a handset, so he can keep his other arm free for writing.) If you could either do the promotion jobs with a reasonable accomodation--or even don't need any accomodation at all, as you indicate--then denying you a promotion based on your disease may be illegal discrimination. Frolm what you write, it would be worthwhile for you to consult with an employment law attorney in depth about the situation, to see if you do in fact have a claim and what it might be worth.
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