Public Employee Press

Disabled? Know your rights in the workplace

New York City has the best protections for people with disabilities in the country, according to Local 154 President Juan Fernandez, who works at the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

"The city has the strongest language in the country, but its effectiveness depends upon enforcement," Fernandez said.

Fernandez noted that protecting people with disabilities was not a priority of former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Advocates expect the track record of the de Blasio administration will be much better.

Fernandez gave a talk, "Know Your Rights in the Workplace," at a gathering sponsored by the DC 37 Disability Advisory Committee on April 13 at union headquarters. He offered an overview of federal, state and local protections for workers with disabilities

The city's human rights statute prohibits employment discrimination against people with disabilities. The law defines a disability as a physical, medical or mental impairment

Employers are responsible for providing a "reasonable accommodation" to workers with disabilities. That would mean, for example, providing a blind worker with a big screen computer with a voice recognition system for writing.

The city's 55-a Program allows municipalities to hire workers with disabilities for civil service positions without requiring them to take a civil service exam. A few years ago, the union went to court after the Dept. of Finance fired several members in the program, forcing the city to bring them back to work.

Workers with disabilities are also protected by the City of New York Equal Opportunity Policy. Under the policy, city agencies must provide reasonable accommodations to employees with requests for accommodations related to disability, childbirth, pregnancy, sex offences, sexual orientation and domestic violence.

People with disabilities have a number of avenues for taking action if they feel they are discriminated against.

The union is available to help members with these cases. Complaints may be filed at:

• the New York City Commission on Human Rights (http://www.nyc.gov/html/cchr/html/home/home.shtml)

• the New York State Division of Human Rights (http://www.dhr.ny.gov/)

• the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (http://www.eeoc.gov/) and

• the United States Dept. of Justice (http://www.justice.gov)

"Our mission is to advance and educate our disabled members," said Local 1482 President Eileen Muller, chair of the DC 37 Disability Advisory Committee, who along with DC 37 Executive Director
Henry Garrido welcomed the audience at the seminar.