Legal Rights for Cancer Patients Facing Discrimination

Cancer and its treatment can affect an individual’s immune system, mental health and physical abilities. These changes can create difficulties in a patient's home and work life. Because of this, the law often recognizes cancer as a disability.

Legal recognition of cancer as a disability comes with certain rights. These rights help protect patients from discrimination. Current U.S. law is especially focused on bias in the workplace. Keep reading to learn how laws protect job applicants and employees who have mesothelioma and other cancers.

What Types of Discrimination Do Cancer Patients Face?

Workplace discrimination against cancer patients can come in many forms, including:

• Doubts about the patient's long-term productivity
• Exclusion from meetings, information and other things essential to doing their job
• Firing
• Missed promotions

Employers may also discriminate against patients by denying them reasonable requests. For example, an employer may not grant leave to an employee to go to doctor appointments. Employers may also refuse to let employees work from home if their immune system is compromised.

Are There Any Laws That Protect Cancer Patients?

Several laws exist to prevent discrimination against disabled people, including cancer patients. The Rehabilitation Act applies to people who work for the federal government. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to state and local employees, as well as private companies with 15 or more employees. Some companies with fewer than 15 employees may be subject to state and local antidiscrimination laws.

What Protections Do Anti-Discrimination Laws Give Cancer Patients?

The ADA and similar laws provide guidelines for employers, employees and applicants to help avoid discrimination. These guidelines aim to limit an employer's ability to ask for information or medical exams related to a person's cancer. They are also meant to ensure cancer patients receive reasonable accommodations from employers. For example, some employees may need to use the phone during work hours to talk to a doctor even if personal phone calls are generally not allowed.

The laws also provide victims with legal remedies for when discrimination occurs. These may include mediation with an employer or a lawsuit against the company.

Protection for Applicants With Cancer

In general, cancer patients have certain protections when applying to jobs. It is important to note: The ADA does not require cancer patients to disclose their diagnosis before accepting a job. And guidelines exist for when a patient voluntarily tells a potential employer they have or have had cancer.

Also, an employer may not legally ask an applicant whether they have or had cancer. This helps prevent potential employers from making presumptions about an individual's abilities based on his or her diagnosis. But this does not mean an interviewer can’t ask relevant questions, like whether a prospective employee is available to travel.

Protection for Employees With Cancer

Employees with cancer also have certain protections under antidiscrimination laws. As a general rule, disabled employees must still be able to meet their job requirements, given reasonable accommodations. The ADA and similar laws provide guidelines to help ensure that an employee is being judged for his or her ability to do their job and nothing else.

For example, employers are not allowed to tell coworkers that an employee has cancer. However, employers may be allowed to ask for medical documentation if a patient on leave wants to return to work.

Can Employees Be Fired for Having Cancer?

No, an employer generally cannot legally fire someone just for having cancer. Under the ADA, companies with 15+ employees cannot legally discriminate against an individual with a disability. Cancer is considered a disability in this context. As long as an employee can still do their job, even if they need reasonable accommodations, they cannot be fired for having cancer.

What Can Cancer Patients Do When Employers Discriminate?

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces the ADA. Cancer patients who believe they have experienced workplace discrimination can file a complaint with the agency. They can seek out experienced lawyers to help them file.