Does the Americans with Disabilities act apply to Aspies?

Post Reply New Topic

I was wondering, if my employer ever decides to fire me, would bringing up the fact that I have Asperger's Syndrome help me preserve my job?

Autism would certainly be considered a disability and an employer is required to make reasonable accomodations under the Americans With Disabilities Act. A reasonable accomodation is one that is defined as one that does not pose an undue burden or is unduly expensive and does not alter the fundamental nature of the job.

An employer is not required to lower performance standards as an accomodation and a disabled employee can be held to the same performance standards as another employee.

It would depend on the reason for you being fired. If you are performing poorly on your job and you know you are performing poorly and it is documented, the fact that you are an Aspie will not help you.

On the other hand if the boss holds you to a higher standard based on stereotypes or misconceptions about people on the autistic spectrum, that is valid grounds for filing a discrimination complaint.

where I live, Asperger's is NOT considered a disability. So I dunno.

The ADA was significantly weakend by caselaw over the years. If you have a disability that ~cannot be corrected~ you are covered by ADA. Example, you have excruciatingly bad eyesight. If your vision can be corrected by any means, you are not covered by ADA. If your eyesight is so bad that you cannot see even with glasses and contacts well enough to function within the realm of "normal", you are covered. If you are bipolar or schizophrenic or some such, if it's correctable with medication, you are not covered by the ADA while you are medicated. There's apparently a big stink going on right now about diabetes as a disability. I haven't heard officially what the rulings coming down are, but the rumors are that they are (surprisingly!) favorable to the diabetics. As far as I know, Autism is not something that can be medicated. Hence, if it were deemed severe enough, you could argue for protection.

The catch here is: are you able to do the job if they make accommodations (work schedules, work environment, etc.)? If you cannot do the job with the accommodations and reach the normal standard of functioning in that organization, no dice. You're out of luck.

Also, with the ADA, if you do not ask for reasonable accommodations in advance, and are fired for a disability-related issue, you have very little recourse. Even if you get a very good lawyer and have the years it will take for your case to wander through the courts. Almost all the ADA lawsuits are ruled in favor of the employer - it's very hard to win one unless you've got a clear-cut case that shows that you alerted them to your needs and that they failed to help you before you did a crash-and-burn. Also, the ADA does not apply to every workplace. I believe an organization has to have a certain number of employees (is it 50?) before that comes into effect.

One other tidbit - check your state's caselaw. California's disability laws are extremely strict - way better than the ADA as far as protecting you in the workplace. Other state's laws will vary wildly.

http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/asperger.html is a website I found. Check it out.

Mark

http://www.jan.wvu.edu/media/asperger.html is a website I found. Check it out.

Mark

Very nice site. These folks have been around for quite some time.

I recently read that in order to be protected, you need to notify your employer of your disability and what specific accomodations you'll need in writing. It's like any legal document. You both sign it and you both keep a copy. If that was not done before the discrimination took place, the courts are unlikely to rule in your favor. But of course this could vary state-to-state.