New Jersey Disability Discrimination Attorney

The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination provides broad protections for employees with disabilities — protections that in many respects exceed those available under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Under the NJLAD, a disability is defined broadly to include any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, as well as conditions that are perceived as disabling.

Employers covered by the NJLAD are required to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the business. The accommodation process requires the employer to engage in a good-faith interactive process with the employee to identify appropriate accommodations.

Disability discrimination can take many forms: failure to hire, failure to promote, termination, failure to accommodate, and harassment based on disability. All of these are actionable under the NJLAD.

What Qualifies as a Disability Under NJ Law

The NJLAD defines disability broadly to include any physical disability, infirmity, malformation, or disfigurement caused by bodily injury, birth defect, or illness, as well as any mental, psychological, or developmental disability. This includes conditions such as cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and many other conditions. Importantly, NJ law also protects employees who are perceived as having a disability, even if they do not actually have one.

The Reasonable Accommodation Obligation

Employers must provide reasonable accommodations to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their jobs. Common accommodations include modified work schedules, remote work, modified duties, assistive technology, and leave. The employer must engage in a good-faith interactive process to identify appropriate accommodations. Failure to engage in this process, or outright denial of a reasonable accommodation request, is independently actionable under the NJLAD.

Disability Discrimination in Termination and Promotion

Employers frequently discriminate against employees with disabilities in termination and promotion decisions. Common patterns include terminating employees after they disclose a disability or request an accommodation, passing over disabled employees for promotion, and using performance standards that do not account for disability-related limitations. These actions are illegal under the NJLAD when the disability is a motivating factor in the decision.