Workers' Compensation, Disability Benefits and Your Discrimination Claim in New York

A workers' compensation or disability benefits claim and a discrimination claim are separate matters that often arise from the same injury or illness. New York's Workers' Compensation Law makes it unlawful for an employer to discharge or otherwise discriminate against an employee for claiming benefits under it, and complaints about that go to the Workers' Compensation Board.⁠^[1] Claims under the federal, New York State and New York City discrimination laws go to different places: the EEOC, the State Division of Human Rights, the NYC Commission on Human Rights or a court.⁠^[5]

This guide explains how the benefit systems and the discrimination laws sit side by side, what each one protects, and which questions are left for a lawyer. It does not cover bankruptcy.

Which system covers what?

System	Layer	What it addresses
Workers' compensation	New York State	Compensation for on-the-job injuries. Section 120 protects an employee who claimed compensation from the employer, or requested a claim form "for injuries received in the course of employment".⁠[1]
Statutory disability benefits	New York State	Off-the-job injury or illness: weekly cash benefits that partly replace wages lost to injuries or illnesses that do not arise out of or in the course of employment.⁠[3] One-half of the weekly wage, up to $170 a week, for no more than 26 weeks in any 52 consecutive weeks.⁠[9]
Paid Family Leave	New York State	Caring for a family member with a serious health condition, bonding with a child, or certain military-related needs; the worker's own illness is not among the listed purposes.⁠[10]
Family and Medical Leave Act	Federal	Up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period, including for the employee's own serious health condition, at employers with 50 or more employees.⁠[11][12]
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)	Federal	Discrimination against a qualified individual on the basis of disability, including failure to make reasonable accommodations, at employers with 15 or more employees.⁠[13][14][15]
New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL)	New York State	Disability discrimination and refusal to provide reasonable accommodations to known disabilities, at all employers.⁠[16][17]
New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL)	New York City	Disability discrimination and failure to provide a reasonable accommodation where the disability is known or should have been known.⁠[18]

The benefit systems decide whether benefits are payable. The discrimination laws ask a different question: whether the employer treated the person worse, refused an accommodation, or retaliated. One event, such as a back injury followed by a termination, can raise questions under several rows at once. The guide to FMLA, Paid Family Leave and sick leave compares the leave laws.

Is it unlawful to punish someone for filing a benefits claim?

Under New York State law, yes. Workers' Compensation Law § 120 makes it unlawful for an employer or its authorized agent to discharge, fail to reinstate under § 203-b (the Paid Family Leave reinstatement section), or in any other manner discriminate against an employee because the employee claimed or attempted to claim compensation, requested a claim form for injuries received in the course of employment, claimed or attempted to claim any benefits under the Workers' Compensation Law, or testified or is about to testify in a proceeding under it.⁠^[1]

Several features of this complaint process differ from the discrimination statutes:

• The qualifier. The section applies where the protected act was the reason "and no other valid reason is shown to exist" for the employer's action.⁠^[1]
• The forum. The complaint is filed with the Workers' Compensation Board, which makes the order.⁠^[1]
• The time limit. A complaint must be filed within two years of the discriminatory act.⁠^[1]
• What the Board orders. On finding a violation, the Board orders that the employee be restored to employment or to the position or privileges the employee would have had, and be compensated by the employer for lost compensation, together with fees for an attorney or licensed representative as fixed by the Board.⁠^[1]
• The penalty. The employer is liable to a penalty of not less than $100 and not more than $500, as determined by the Board.⁠^[1]
• Who pays. Penalties, compensation and fees are paid solely by the employer, not by its insurance carrier.⁠^[1]

Section 120 is not limited to on-the-job injuries. Another section of the Workers' Compensation Law makes it applicable to the article that governs disability benefits and Paid Family Leave, so the same two-year complaint to the Board applies to retaliation for claiming those benefits.⁠^[2][3][4] The Paid Family Leave provisions also entitle an employee returning from family leave to the same position or a comparable one.⁠^[4] For more, see retaliation for taking leave or filing workers' comp.

Can the same injury also be a disability under discrimination law?

It can, and the answer depends on the layer.

• Federal. Under the ADA a person has a disability if the person has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having one.⁠^[19] An impairment lasting or expected to last fewer than six months can be substantially limiting.⁠^[20]
• New York State. The NYSHRL definition covers a physical, mental or medical impairment that prevents the exercise of a normal bodily function or is demonstrable by medically accepted clinical or laboratory diagnostic techniques; it contains no "substantially limits" requirement.⁠^[6] A State regulation says a current employee with a temporary disability is protected where the person will be able to perform the job satisfactorily after a reasonable time for recovery.⁠^[21]
• New York City. The NYCHRL defines disability as any physical, medical, mental or psychological impairment, or a history or record of one.⁠^[7] The NYC Commission on Human Rights states that temporary and short-term injuries, as well as chronic conditions, may qualify.⁠^[22]

If the condition is a disability under one of these laws, the accommodation rules apply alongside any benefits claim. Under the State regulation, accommodation of a temporary disability may include modified work schedules, reassignment to an available position or available light duty, or schedule adjustments for recovery.⁠^[21] Under EEOC guidance on the ADA, permitting the use of accrued paid leave or unpaid leave is a form of reasonable accommodation when a disability makes it necessary.⁠^[23] The federal leave regulation also says the ADA's "disability" and the FMLA's "serious health condition" are different concepts that must be analyzed separately.⁠^[24]

How much leave is reasonable differs by layer. The Court of Appeals has said indefinite leave is not considered a reasonable accommodation under the State Human Rights Law.⁠^[25] The City Commission says no accommodation, including indefinite leave, is categorically excluded under the City law.⁠^[26] The guides on temporary injuries and short-term conditions, reasonable accommodation and medical leave as an accommodation go deeper.

Does workers' compensation "exclusivity" block a discrimination claim?

The Workers' Compensation Law contains what is usually called the exclusivity rule. Its text says the employer's liability for compensation "shall be exclusive and in place of any other liability whatsoever" to the employee "on account of such injury or death", and that compensation is the exclusive remedy when an employee is injured "by the negligence or wrong of another in the same employ".⁠^[8]

Those are the statutory words. What this page does not cover: whether and when the exclusivity provision affects a claim under the discrimination statutes, and what its exceptions are; and how courts treat statements on New York workers' compensation or disability benefit forms, or State or City discrimination claims, when a person has also described an inability to work in a benefits claim. Courts decide those questions. Anyone weighing both kinds of claim should raise them with a lawyer at the start.

What about retaliation for asking for an accommodation or using leave?

Each of these laws has its own retaliation rule, separate from the benefits-claim protection described above.

• Federal. The ADA prohibits discrimination against a person who opposed an unlawful act or participated in an ADA proceeding, and makes it unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with a person exercising ADA rights.⁠^[27][28] The FMLA makes it unlawful to interfere with, restrain or deny the exercise of leave rights.⁠^[29]
• New York State. The NYSHRL retaliation provision expressly protects a person who "requested a reasonable accommodation", language added by Chapter 600 of the Laws of 2025, signed December 5, 2025.⁠^[30] State Labor Law § 215 treats assessing attendance points or similar marks for a legally protected absence as retaliation.⁠^[31]
• New York City. Local Law 129 of 2019 made retaliation for requesting a reasonable accommodation unlawful under the NYCHRL; the NYC Commission on Human Rights lists it as effective November 11, 2019.⁠^[32]

Do statements on benefit forms matter in a discrimination case?

The laws define their key terms differently, which is why the question comes up. For New York statutory disability benefits, "disability" during employment means inability to perform the regular duties of the job, as a result of injury or sickness not arising out of and in the course of employment.⁠^[33] Under the ADA, a "qualified individual" is someone who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job.⁠^[34] In the NYSHRL's employment provisions, "disability" is limited to disabilities that, with reasonable accommodations, do not prevent the person from performing the job in a reasonable manner.⁠^[6]

One federal decision addresses the overlap. In a case about Social Security disability benefits, the U.S. Supreme Court held that pursuing and receiving those benefits does not automatically bar an ADA claim, but that an ADA plaintiff cannot simply ignore an earlier sworn statement that she was unable to work and must give a sufficient explanation of how the two positions are consistent.⁠^[35] That decision concerns federal Social Security applications and the ADA. As a practical matter, describe your condition and your work restrictions accurately on every form, keep copies of what you submit, and tell any lawyer you consult about every claim you have filed.

What should I watch for in a settlement or severance agreement?

Agreements that end an employment dispute often contain a broad release. The EEOC's employee checklist says to make sure the employer is not asking for a release of claims for unemployment compensation benefits or workers' compensation benefits.⁠^[36] Under New York State General Obligations Law § 5-336, a confidentiality term in a discrimination settlement is void to the extent it restricts the complainant from filing or disclosing facts necessary to receive unemployment insurance, Medicaid or other public benefits to which the complainant is entitled.⁠^[37]

Benefits can also interact with each other. The Workers' Compensation Board states that a person may not collect unemployment benefits and disability benefits for the same period.⁠^[3] See severance agreements and releases.

What are the time limits?

Step	Where	Time limit
Claim for statutory disability benefits	Employer or its insurance carrier, where the disability started within four weeks of the last day worked	The Board says to file within 30 days after becoming disabled.⁠[3]
Complaint of retaliation for claiming compensation, disability benefits or Paid Family Leave (§ 120)	Workers' Compensation Board	Two years.⁠[1][2]
ADA charge	EEOC	300 days in New York.⁠[38][39]
FMLA lawsuit	Court	Two years; three years for a willful violation.⁠[40]
NYSHRL claim	State Division of Human Rights or court	Three years in either forum.⁠[41][42]
NYCHRL claim	NYC Commission on Human Rights	One year.⁠[43]
NYCHRL claim	Court	Three years.⁠[44]

Each of these time limits is set by its own statute and is counted from its own event.⁠^[1][41][43] It is safest not to assume that a pending benefits claim extends a discrimination deadline, or the reverse. The comparison of retaliation deadlines and the full deadline guide list the rest.

What happens when leave runs out?

The end of a leave entitlement does not switch off the discrimination laws. The federal leave regulation says nothing in the FMLA modifies any federal or state law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability.⁠^[45] See fired while on medical leave.