Information and Resources on Reasonable Accommodation and Disability Discrimination

[APSJ]

Please note that while I’ve made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information in this post, it is based primarily on information obtained from other online sources, and as such, it may contain errors. Also, since laws and regulations change, it may become outdated. I am posting it for informational purposes, as a convenience. It should not be treated as authoritative and in no event should it be construed as, or substituted for, advice from a legal professional.

In the United States, federal law prohibits most employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against employees or job applicants based on disability. Employers may also be required to make reasonable accommodations necessary due to an employee or applicant’s disability. Federal laws against discrimination are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Complaints can be filed with the EEOC at no cost, and without an attorney. They must be filed within a specified period of time following the discrimination complained of, which may be as little as 180 days. The law prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for filing complaints with the EEOC.

The EEOC will investigate the complaint if it has jurisdiction over the allegations. As per their website, the following is the procedure following the investigation:

If we haven’t found a violation of the law, we will send you a Notice-of-Right-to-Sue. This notice gives you permission to file a lawsuit in a court of law. If we find a violation, we will try to reach a voluntary settlement with the employer. If we cannot reach a settlement, your case will be referred to our legal staff (or the Department of Justice in certain cases), who will decide whether or not the agency should file a lawsuit. If we decide not to file a lawsuit, we will give you a Notice-of-Right-to-Sue.

http://www.eeoc.gov/index.cfm

In other words, if the investigation finds a violation, they may or may not file a lawsuit on your behalf.

While many people are familiar with the EEOC, in my experience, fewer are aware that there are also state and local agencies with which complaints of employment discrimination can be filed. The vast majority of states, and many municipalities, have such agencies, which enforce state and local laws against discrimination. In some cases, state and local agencies have agreements with the EEOC to forward complaints to them, for filing under federal as well as state or local law.

While often similar, state and local laws against employment discrimination may have significant differences from federal laws, which may include broader definitions of “disability” than federal laws, or coverage of smaller employers (ie those with fewer than 15 employees). Others may only cover employees who work in the public sector. The agencies that enforce these laws may also differ from the EEOC in their procedures and authority. For example, after investigating a complaint, some agencies will conduct their own hearings for all cases supported by sufficient evidence, and assign an attorney to argue the case on the employee’s behalf at no charge. If the employee prevails at the hearing, the agency may then have the authority to directly order the employer to remedy the situation, or provide relief to the employee.

I recently discovered that it is surprisingly hard to find a current and accurate list of links to state and local equal employment agencies online, which inspired me to create my own here. There are many factors to consider in deciding whether, and where, to file an employment discrimination complaint. Guidance on the specific laws and procedures in your area may be found on the websites below, or obtained by contacting the EEOC or your local agency directly. For legal advice on a specific situation, however, it may be necessary to speak to an attorney.

The following list includes links to state equal employment agencies in every state, except Arkansas, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. I was unable to find websites for state agencies in those three states. It may be that none exist, or that they do not have websites, but if anyone is aware of them, let me know, and I’ll add them.

There are only links to a few local (city/county) agencies. If you are aware of agencies that are not included, or find any inaccuracies, feel free to PM me or post them in this thread.

Alabama

Alabama Department of Human Resources, Equal Employment and Civil Rights Division

http://dhr.alabama.gov/directory/equ...civil_rts.aspx

Alaska

Alaska State Commission for Human Rights

http://humanrights.alaska.gov/

Arizona

Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Civil Rights Division

http://www.azag.gov/civil_rights/dis...mployment.html

California

California Department of Fair Employment and Housing

http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/

San Francisco

Human Rights Commission

http://www.sf-hrc.org/

Colorado

Colorado Civil Rights Division

http://www.dora.state.co.us/Civil-Rights/

Connecticut

Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities

http://www.ct.gov/chro/site/default.asp

Delaware

Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs, Office of Discrimination

http://dia.delawareworks.com/discrimination/

Florida

Florida Commission on Human Relations

http://fchr.state.fl.us/

Georgia

Georgia Commission of Equal Opportunity

http://georgia.gov/agencies/georgia-...al-opportunity

Hawaii

Hawaii Civil Rights Commission

http://hawaii.gov/labor/hcrc/

Idaho

Idaho Commission on Human Rights

http://humanrights.idaho.gov/

Illinois

Illinois Department of Human Rights

http://www2.illinois.gov/dhr/Pages/default.aspx

Chicago

Chicago Commission on Human Relations

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cchr.html

Indiana

Indiana Civil Rights Commission

http://www.in.gov/icrc/

Iowa

Iowa Civil Rights Commission

http://www.state.ia.us/government/crc/index.html

Kansas

Kansas Human Rights Commission

http://www.khrc.net/

Kentucky

Kentucky Commission on Human Rights

http://kchr.ky.gov/

Louisiana

Louisiana Commission on Human Rights

http://www.gov.state.la.us/HumanRigh...rightshome.htm

Maine

Maine Human Rights Commission

http://www.state.me.us/mhrc/index.shtml

Maryland

Maryland Commission on Civil Rights

http://mccr.maryland.gov/empldiscr.html

Massachusetts

Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination

http://www.mass.gov/mcad/

Michigan

Michigan Department of Civil Rights

http://www.michigan.gov/mdcr/

Minnesota

Minnesota Department of Human Rights

http://www.humanrights.state.mn.us

Missouri

Missouri Commission on Human Rights

http://labor.mo.gov/mohumanrights/

Kansas City

City of Kansas City Human Relations Department

http://www.kcmo.org/CKCMO/Depts/City...sion/index.htm

Montana

The Human Rights Bureau of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry

http://erd.dli.mt.gov/human-rights-bureau.html

Nebraska

Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission

http://www.neoc.ne.gov/

Omaha

City of Omaha Human Rights and Relations Department

http://www.cityofomaha.org/humanrights/

Lincoln

Lincoln Commission on Human Rights

http://www.lincoln.ne.gov/city/mayor/human/

Nevada

Nevada Equal Rights Commission

http://detr.state.nv.us/nerc.htm

New Hampshire

New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights

http://www.nh.gov/hrc/

New Mexico

New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, Human Rights Bureau

http://www.dws.state.nm.us/LaborRela...ts/Information

New York

New York State Division of Human Rights

http://www.dhr.ny.gov

New York City

New York City Commission on Human Rights

http://www.nyc.gov/html/cchr/home.html

Westchester County

Human Rights Commission

http://humanrights.westchestergov.com/

North Carolina

North Carolina Office of Administrative Hearings, Civil Rights Division
(public employees only)

http://www.ncoah.com/civil/

North Dakota

North Dakota Department of Labor, Human Rights Division

http://www.nd.gov/labor/human-rights/

Ohio

Ohio Civil Rights Commission

http://crc.ohio.gov/index.htm

Oklahoma

Tulsa

Human Rights Department

http://www.cityoftulsa.org/community...an-rights.aspx

Oregon

Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, Civil Rights Division

http://cms.oregon.gov/boli/CRD/Pages/index.aspx

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission

http://www.phrc.state.pa.us/portal/s...hrc_home/18970

Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations

http://www.phila.gov/humanrelations/

Rhode Island

Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights

http://www.richr.state.ri.us/frames.html

South Carolina

South Carolina Human Affairs Commission

http://www.state.sc.us/schac/

South Dakota

South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Division of Human Rights

http://dlr.sd.gov/humanrights/default.aspx

Tennessee

Tennessee Human Rights Commission

http://tn.gov/humanrights/

Texas

Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division

http://www.twc.state.tx.us/crd/file_emp.html

Utah

Utah Antidiscrimination & Labor Division

http://laborcommission.utah.gov/divi...bor/index.html

Vermont

Vermont Human Rights Commission
(public employees)

http://hrc.vermont.gov/

Office of the Attorney General of Vermont, Civil Rights Unit
(private employees)

http://www.atg.state.vt.us/issues/discrimination.php

Virginia

Attorney General of Virginia, Division of Human Rights

http://www.ag.virginia.gov/Programs%...hts/index.html

Washington

Washington State Human Rights Commission

http://www.hum.wa.gov/index.html

West Virginia

West Virginia Human Rights Commission

http://www.hrc.wv.gov/Pages/default.aspx

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Equal Rights Division

http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/er/

Wyoming

Wyoming Department of Workforce Services

http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/job-...or-rights.aspx

Washington, D.C.

Office of Human Rights

http://ohr.dc.gov/

[namazu]

These offices / sites appear to be the closest things to what these states offer:

Oklahoma Employment Security Commission - Civil Rights
http://www.ok.gov/oesc_web/OESC/Poli.../Civil_Rights/

Mississippi Dept. of Employment Security
http://mdes.ms.gov/Home/JobSeekerServices/index.html

Arkansas apparently has none:
http://www.workplacefairness.org/agencies_AR

[APSJ]

Originally Posted by namazu

These offices / sites appear to be the closest things to what these states offer:

Oklahoma Employment Security Commission - Civil Rights
http://www.ok.gov/oesc_web/OESC/Poli.../Civil_Rights/

Mississippi Dept. of Employment Security
http://mdes.ms.gov/Home/JobSeekerServices/index.html

Arkansas apparently has none:
http://www.workplacefairness.org/agencies_AR

Interesting. I hadn't come across these. While I could be wrong, it appears that they are concerned with assuring internal compliance with non-discrimination laws rather than enforcing the laws externally. (ie their job is to make sure that the agencies they're a part of, or those they fund, do not themselves discriminate) In any event, good to have these included absent other resources in those states.