The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. The ADA further prohibits employment discrimination against a person because of his or her know relationship or association with a person with a known disability. This means that the employer is prohibited from making adverse employment decisions based on unfounded concerns about the known disability of a family member or anyone else with whom the applicant or the employee has a relationship or association.
An employer cannot terminate or refuse to hire someone due to that person's association with a disabled individual. Any employer cannot deny an employee who is associated with a disabled person a promotion or other opportunities for advancement due to that association. An employer cannot deny an employee's health insurance because she is associated with a disabled person. An employer cannot harass an employee because the employee has a relationship with a disabled individual.
The ADA does not require an employer to provide a reasonable accommodation to a person without a disability due to that person's association with a disabled person. However, an employer cannot treat an employee differently than other employees because of his association with a person with a disability. For example, an employer cannot deny leave to an employee who needs to care for a disabled child but grant leave for another employee who wants to attend an out-of-state family reunion.