Perceived Physical Disabilities Not Covered Under CFEPA

The Appellate Court of Connecticut recently held that the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act (CFEPA) does not cover claims based on perceived physical disabilities. Desrosiers v. Diageo North American, Inc. , 137 Conn. App. 446 (2012). Unlike the federal American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA), which covers such claims, the court found the state law offers no similar protection. However, while CFEPA does not cover perceived physical disability claims it does cover perceived mental disability claims. Therefore, although small employers with between 3 and 15 employees may not be held liable for claims based on perceived physical disability, they will be liable under state law if they are found to have unlawfully discriminated based on a perceived mental disability.

The Court based its ruling on the state statute’s express language incorporating perceived mental disabilities into the Act, and the absence of such express language in the section covering physical disabilities. More specifically, a person with a “mental disability” is defined as “an individual who has a record of, or is regarded as having one or more mental disorders, as defined in the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.” In contrast, a person with a “physical disability” is defined as “any individual who has any chronic physical handicap, infirmity or impairment, whether congenital or resulting from bodily injury, organic processes or changes, or from illness, including, but not limited to, epilepsy, deafness, or hearing impairment, or reliance on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device.”