You have a medical condition, whether through injury or illness, that qualifies as a disability. It also means that you need ongoing medical care. Perhaps you have to go in for continuing appointments and checkups, or perhaps you need a certain type of treatment. If you have cancer, for instance, you may need to go in periodically for chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
At first, your boss is more than willing to let you keep your job. But over time, they get frustrated by these ongoing appointments. Maybe you have to go to the doctor once a week, so you’re continually missing time at work. Could your boss decide to fire you over this issue?
Making reasonable accommodations
If they do terminate you because of your medical condition and your treatment needs, it could be an example of disability discrimination. After all, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations when possible. This could mean altering your schedule so that you can still perform your job but also attend your medical appointments. Simply firing you to replace you with another worker could be a violation of your rights.
For instance, maybe you typically work Monday through Friday, putting in 40 hours per week. Could your employer simply give you an alternative schedule so that you can go to medical appointments on Wednesday and work on Saturday? Or could they set up a schedule where you can leave in the middle of the day on Wednesday, attend the medical appointment, and then work later into the evening? If it would be easy for your employer to do so, they do need to make these types of reasonable accommodations.
Unfortunately, some employers simply decide to fire employees without even considering that it may be discriminatory to do so. If this happens to you, be sure you know what legal options you have.