In our previous article, we explored workplace discrimination and explained how California labor laws protect employees from discrimination based on age, race, color, national origin, ethnicity, and religion. Today, we turn our focus to a form of discrimination that occurs just as frequently as age or racial discrimination—discrimination based on physical or mental disability.

A significant number of individuals in the workforce live with physical disabilities. In fact, not only current employees but also job applicants have the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of physical disability. So how does one establish that they have a physical disability? Generally, three criteria must be met:

1. The individual must have a physical impairment or physiological disease or condition that is permanent.

2.The disability must affect one or more of the following bodily systems: neurological, immune, musculoskeletal, special sense organs, respiratory (including speech organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, hematologic and lymphatic, skin, or endocrine.

3.The disability must substantially limit the individual in performing major life activities. These activities are interpreted broadly and include basic functions such as walking, eating, and sleeping, as well as social and occupational activities.

In addition, under California law, specific conditions such as hearing and visual impairments, loss of limbs, disabilities requiring the use of a wheelchair, cerebral palsy, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, epilepsy, seizure disorders, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and cardiovascular diseases are explicitly recognized as physical disabilities.

However, minor or temporary conditions do not qualify as disabilities. Examples include the common cold, flu, cuts, bruises, sprains, muscle aches, migraines, or minor gastrointestinal disorders.

Mental disabilities, like physical disabilities, are defined as conditions that substantially limit major life activities. Again, both employees and job applicants are entitled to protection against discrimination based on mental disabilities. Importantly, as with racial discrimination, if an employer wrongly believes that an employee has a mental disability and discriminates against them based on that mistaken belief, it still constitutes unlawful discrimination.

Conditions that are considered mental disabilities under California law include mental illness, intellectual or cognitive disabilities, specific learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It is critical to note that California law explicitly excludes compulsive gambling, kleptomania, pyromania, substance use disorders resulting from illegal drug use, pedophilia, exhibitionism, and voyeurism from the definition of mental disability.