Unequal treatment motivated by disability or perceived disability in employment decisions.
In plain terms
These claims ask whether a disability—or a mistaken belief that you have one—was a meaningful reason you were denied a fair shake at work. That issue sits alongside accommodation: whether you could do the job with a reasonable adjustment, and whether the employer engaged seriously with you about options. Medical facts, job duties, and how decisions were actually made usually sit at the center of the story.
Snapshot: When does the company legally “know” you have a disability?
In Husband v. Target Corporation (), a California appeals court reaffirmed how strict that question can be
when you never told anyone in management about a diagnosis but later claim disability discrimination after a stressful termination. Judges may ask
whether a disability was the only fair reading of what the employer actually observed—not just whether behavior looked alarming.
Read the published opinion (PDF).
