Psychiatric disabilities are among the most frequent disabilities cited by individuals who file ADA employment discrimination charges. In recent years, psychiatric disabilities have been cited in roughly 15 percent of the charges filed under the ADA each year. The reason that most people with psychiatric disabilities file charges is because they have been fired from their job. Other issues commonly cited in charges are failure to provide reasonable accommodations, workplace harassment by a supervisor or co-worker, hiring discrimination, or unfair disciplinary actions taken by an employer or supervisor. However, these account for only a small percentage of the charges that are filed.
Few investigators receive specific training on psychiatric disabilities.
Therefore, if you file a discrimination charge, you should provide relevant documentation about the complexity of your specific psychiatric disability, the issues it may raise in the work place, and why you are qualified to do the job either with or without a reasonable accommodation. On the other hand, provide only relevant information. For example, do not provide extensive and repetitive notes about your feelings and thoughts. Too much information can confuse the picture you are trying to paint of the significant details of the discrimination. In filing charges, individuals with psychiatric disabilities 'self-report' their impairment or diagnosis to the investigator taking their charge.