Can disability discrimination occur in volunteer organizations?

disability discrimination

Disability discrimination occurs when someone is treated less favourably than others because of a physical or mental impairment. This can include direct discrimination, where someone is disadvantaged because of their disability, or indirect discrimination, where the way something is done disadvantages people with disabilities. Discrimination can also occur because of a person’s association with a disabled person, or because someone is perceived to have a disability.

Nonprofit organizations are subject to an ever-expanding set of anti-discrimination laws. However, these laws are usually only applicable to employees and do not apply to volunteers. This can leave volunteers vulnerable to discrimination and may increase the risk of lawsuits if the organization is not careful.

Despite this, there are some cases where disability discrimination does occur in the context of volunteering. One case involved a woman with intellectual disability who was a volunteer adviser in a Citizens Advice Bureau. She claimed that she was subject to harassment and discrimination by her supervisor and that she was prevented from carrying out her job because of her disability. However, the Court of Appeal held that as she was a volunteer and not an employee, the European Framework Directive and the Equality Act did not apply to her.

Can disability discrimination occur in volunteer organizations?

A more recent study of barriers to volunteering in the field of intellectual disability found that using latent class analysis to survey 197 individuals, three distinct clusters were identified. These clusters included: those who assume that volunteering is a barrier because of the impact of an individual’s disability; those who are unaware of the reality of an intellectually disabled person; and those who perceive no barriers to volunteer in the field of intellectual disability law. These findings suggest that a more detailed analysis of the various barriers could help organisations to better understand the reasons why individuals feel hindered from volunteering in activities involving intellectually disabled persons and develop strategies to reduce these barriers.

Another possible barrier to volunteering is that people with disabilities are not offered opportunities to enhance their skills or learn new ones. When this happens, it can prevent volunteers from advancing in their career and may cause them to lose confidence in their abilities. This is a form of disability discrimination and is prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal civil rights laws.

It can be difficult to recognise whether you are being treated unfairly or experiencing discrimination because of your disability. The most obvious sign is being prevented from accessing opportunities that other volunteers without disabilities are getting. If this is happening to you, then you can contact the agencies and organisations listed in this guide for further information. You can also get free legal advice from the Disability Law Center.