“PUTTING LAWYERS on the case: Medical-Legal Partnership Boston gives patients support from attorneys’’ (Business, May 10) says that “cancer patients are legally entitled to less strenuous jobs when they are receiving and recuperating from treatment.’’ Not necessarily.
Cancer might (but does not always) qualify as a disability under the antidiscrimination laws. Even when it does, the employee is entitled only to a “reasonable accommodation,’’ which can vary depending on the nature of the workplace.
An employee might also find protection in the Family and Medical Leave Act, which allows for unpaid medical leave in some circumstances, but the FMLA is limited in scope and coverage.
Employment laws can be complicated, especially for those being treated for cancer or other serious illness.
Anyone with questions about their legal rights at work after a cancer diagnosis should contact the Department of Labor, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, or legal counsel.
Lisa J. Bernt
Belmont
The writer is an attorney with Fair Employment Project Inc. in Jamaica Plain. 
