The unequal application of rights
French labour law provides for the reclassification or adaptation of the work environment to account for the health or medical conditions of employees. The law prohibiting discrimination in the workplace outlines the obligation of employers to provide reasonable accommodation to workers with disabilities. In this context, where different legal standards and practices coexist, it is worth asking: how do employees assert their health-related and disability rights and how do they appropriate them? Based on interviews with employees, this paper explores, first, how workers pursue their rights and the inequalities they face in the application of these rights. Secondly, it examines the conflicts of interpretation that arise, as the appropriation of these rights contradicts other norms that shape the power relations between employers and employees. It is through these two lenses that the article analyzes the barriers employees must overcome to assert their rights, as well as the unequal appropriation of these rights, depending on professional status and gender, and on type of disability and accommodations required.