Scenarios In Which Someone May Discriminate Against You Because Of A Mental Health Condition
Posted on: 10 October 2018
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A lot of people have mental illnesses, but through medication, therapy, and other approaches, they can manage their illness without it affecting their daily lives much. However, it's possible for you to run into a difficult situation if someone learns about your mental illness and discriminates against you because of it. Fortunately, you have an ally in a discrimination attorney who specializes in cases such as these. He or she will get you to explain your scenario, will evaluate the degree to which someone has discriminated against you, and then work with you to build a case against this individual or organization. Here are some scenarios in which your mental health issue may cause someone to discriminate against you.
Housing Eviction
It's possible for your landlord to learn about your mental illness and decide to evict you, even if you haven't done anything to deserve it. There are many ways that he or she could discover your health condition — perhaps you actually mentioned it in conversation, or maybe the landlord was in your unit for a repair job, saw a bottle of prescription medication and noted the name of the drug, looked it up afterward, and learned that it was for treating a mental illness. The landlord may feel as though you're a bad tenant just because of your mental illness and choose to evict you.
Job Loss
An employer may terminate your employment upon learning of your mental illness. For example, your employer may feel as though your illness makes you unreliable, even if you haven't shown this to be true. This is another form of discrimination. Legally, employers cannot terminate people because of illnesses, so it's possible that your company has given you a fabricated reason for being fired. You'll want to discuss the merit of this reason with your discrimination attorney. In addition to being discriminated against, you may also have a case for wrongful dismissal.
Legal Issues
You may feel as though the police are discriminating against you because of your mental illnesses. There are a variety of scenarios in which you may experience this unfortunate predicament. For example, if you had a previous run-in with the authorities as a result of having not taken your medication, the police may frequently make contact with you and essentially harass you under the pretense of seeing if you're acting appropriately. If your medication issues are under control and your behavior isn't suggesting that the police should be making contact with you, you could be looking at a situation of discrimination.