I've held two main professional positions in my life: Human Resources (recruiter, manager, director) and College Professor. I was diagnosed late in life with epilepsy. In 2007 I held 5 jobs. Three of these were with Fortune 500 companies. Two of them paid over six figures. I was the Human Resources Director for a company that ended up paying me off not to sue them because the bottom line was we both knew they were firing me because I had epilepsy. The termination paper read that they were firing me because I left a confidential fax on the fax machine for 20 minutes. (This is actually true, however, I was in the middle of a teleconference with an employment judge and it was a confidential fax machine). Prior to this bizarre set of events, I had never received a verbal or written reprimand in my life. I had always held an extra part-time job as a hobby, and I received excellent reviews, promotions, and commendations. Here is what I've learned as a result of 2007:
1) More employers are requiring Drivers Licenses for just about any job including administrative assistant, sales analyst, marketing analyst, human resources generalist, etc. Of course this also includes any position supervisor and above. They are justifying this by stating in the JD that the lower level admins may be needed to run errands that require driving. After researching this, I found that this not necessarily an essential function and, thus, accommodations can be made for those of us with epilepsy. Well, they are one step ahead of us folks. It is now appearing in the first or second line of the JD, making it an essential function. Therefore, no business is required to make accommodations for an essential function.
2) If job hopping is an issue because of your seizure disorder, but you do not want to disclose your disorder in an interview, your are trapped. Yes, I saw the “To disclose or not” thread. This is a perfect example. My 2007 record started out as a mess, because I was returning to the workforce and wasn’t really certain how I could handle a forty hour week on my meds. Well, I was a little drowsy during parts of the day. I probably looked a little high. At any rate, my jobs are on the higher end of the scale, so I’m expected to be on on on, as are most of us. Even those of us who are McDonalds fry cooks. So when I was asked to produce more or resign in a series of recruiting positions, I quit before I was fired. This job-hopping required explanation. It’s getting very difficult to even get into an interview, much less disclose or not. But job hopping is a great way for employers to squeeze it out of you. I mean, wouldn’t you rather admit that, “yes, sir, I was let go because my sales numbers were a bit low. My seizure meds were being adjusted at the time. However, that isn’t a problem now, and I come to you with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm, and I can assure you it will not again interfere with my work.” Than say, “oh yes, I’m a huge flake.” Coming from HR, I can guarantee to you that when I see a highly professional individual come into an interview with a short term job hopping problem I think one thing and one thing only HEALTH RISK.
3) Credit checks. If you are one of the few individuals with epilepsy and good credit, you are blessed. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I’ve had injury after injury. Thus my medical bills in a years time with full insurance coverage were roughly just under $100k. Dislocated jaw, both hips, severed artery, the list goes on. You all know how much Trileptal, Lamictal, and Topamax cost, and you all know how much is covered my your insurance company. My triscore is in the 400s. Most employers will not even look at you without a score above 650. Once again, as an HR professional, we set our company’s score at 650 with exceptions at 600. Guess what the exceptions were??? That’s right folks! Disclosure! Did they have to? NO! But if they wanted to work for us, they need to explain. We gave them a written notice drawn up by some of the highest paid attorneys in the country stating that they were not required to disclose any information to us. Furthermore, they were forbidden, due to HIPPA laws, to disclose any medical reasons for bad credit. However, if we did not see a good reason for bad credit, they were not hired. Big lawyers backed us up all the way. They knew that when they walked out. They knew that it would be an expensive fight to sue. Bad credit to many potential employers means health insurance premium increases.
4) Accepting a demotion. If you want to take a position that is tantamount to a significant demotion, HR thinks one of two things: criminal or sickly. Of course, you don’t want them to think you are a criminal, so you are forced to disclose. Once you disclose, you are open to all sorts of reasons why they can’t hire you.
5) Employment Gap. O.k. very obvious. That one is the same as above except you can add baby in there, which is even worse because they think you might get the baby blues and head back home.
These companies are finding ways to get around ADA laws, and when they don’t, they still have more money to fight than we do. The Civil Rights Acts of '64/'65 and the ADA laws are merely words. We need to continually fight to ensure our rights are enforced. Individuals are frequently crushed in lawsuits, and the above scenarios ensure that they often don't get off the ground.
Companies with fewer than 50 employers spend less than a couple of hours exempting themselves from hiring someone with epilepsy, while large corporations hire teams of attorneys to assure the government oversight agencies and committies that they have Joe in accounting who is hearing impaired and Suzie in dispatching who is wheelchair bound. Epilepsy is unsettling for many. They don't get it, and they don't want to.
We need to fight. It's really time for education. Unemployment is so high. We need to unite, use the media, and stop thinking that the written word of the ADA is here to save us. These companies are ten steps ahead of it. They are consciously making decisions behind closed doors to get around the laws. Just like in the 80s with African Americans and the "token" situations which were horrific, companies are filling their "token" disability chairs with the least offensive differently abled people as possible.
They can always say that, although you were perfectly qualified, and you interviewed well, you just weren't a good fit. That is the term du jour. You may have gone to Yale and your competitor to CSUN. The HR Manager questioned can respond to an investigator, "we felt as though the candidate's educational background might intimidate other team members."
If you have found ways around these clever tricks, please post them here. If you wish to join me in a fight utilizing a foundation and/or the media, PM me. I have an M.A. Cum Laude.
I apologize if this post seemed negative, I meant it only to be truthful and powerful. (sorry about grammatical errors)
1) More employers are requiring Drivers Licenses for just about any job including administrative assistant, sales analyst, marketing analyst, human resources generalist, etc. Of course this also includes any position supervisor and above. They are justifying this by stating in the JD that the lower level admins may be needed to run errands that require driving. After researching this, I found that this not necessarily an essential function and, thus, accommodations can be made for those of us with epilepsy. Well, they are one step ahead of us folks. It is now appearing in the first or second line of the JD, making it an essential function. Therefore, no business is required to make accommodations for an essential function.
2) If job hopping is an issue because of your seizure disorder, but you do not want to disclose your disorder in an interview, your are trapped. Yes, I saw the “To disclose or not” thread. This is a perfect example. My 2007 record started out as a mess, because I was returning to the workforce and wasn’t really certain how I could handle a forty hour week on my meds. Well, I was a little drowsy during parts of the day. I probably looked a little high. At any rate, my jobs are on the higher end of the scale, so I’m expected to be on on on, as are most of us. Even those of us who are McDonalds fry cooks. So when I was asked to produce more or resign in a series of recruiting positions, I quit before I was fired. This job-hopping required explanation. It’s getting very difficult to even get into an interview, much less disclose or not. But job hopping is a great way for employers to squeeze it out of you. I mean, wouldn’t you rather admit that, “yes, sir, I was let go because my sales numbers were a bit low. My seizure meds were being adjusted at the time. However, that isn’t a problem now, and I come to you with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm, and I can assure you it will not again interfere with my work.” Than say, “oh yes, I’m a huge flake.” Coming from HR, I can guarantee to you that when I see a highly professional individual come into an interview with a short term job hopping problem I think one thing and one thing only HEALTH RISK.
3) Credit checks. If you are one of the few individuals with epilepsy and good credit, you are blessed. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I’ve had injury after injury. Thus my medical bills in a years time with full insurance coverage were roughly just under $100k. Dislocated jaw, both hips, severed artery, the list goes on. You all know how much Trileptal, Lamictal, and Topamax cost, and you all know how much is covered my your insurance company. My triscore is in the 400s. Most employers will not even look at you without a score above 650. Once again, as an HR professional, we set our company’s score at 650 with exceptions at 600. Guess what the exceptions were??? That’s right folks! Disclosure! Did they have to? NO! But if they wanted to work for us, they need to explain. We gave them a written notice drawn up by some of the highest paid attorneys in the country stating that they were not required to disclose any information to us. Furthermore, they were forbidden, due to HIPPA laws, to disclose any medical reasons for bad credit. However, if we did not see a good reason for bad credit, they were not hired. Big lawyers backed us up all the way. They knew that when they walked out. They knew that it would be an expensive fight to sue. Bad credit to many potential employers means health insurance premium increases.
4) Accepting a demotion. If you want to take a position that is tantamount to a significant demotion, HR thinks one of two things: criminal or sickly. Of course, you don’t want them to think you are a criminal, so you are forced to disclose. Once you disclose, you are open to all sorts of reasons why they can’t hire you.
5) Employment Gap. O.k. very obvious. That one is the same as above except you can add baby in there, which is even worse because they think you might get the baby blues and head back home.
These companies are finding ways to get around ADA laws, and when they don’t, they still have more money to fight than we do. The Civil Rights Acts of '64/'65 and the ADA laws are merely words. We need to continually fight to ensure our rights are enforced. Individuals are frequently crushed in lawsuits, and the above scenarios ensure that they often don't get off the ground.
Companies with fewer than 50 employers spend less than a couple of hours exempting themselves from hiring someone with epilepsy, while large corporations hire teams of attorneys to assure the government oversight agencies and committies that they have Joe in accounting who is hearing impaired and Suzie in dispatching who is wheelchair bound. Epilepsy is unsettling for many. They don't get it, and they don't want to.
We need to fight. It's really time for education. Unemployment is so high. We need to unite, use the media, and stop thinking that the written word of the ADA is here to save us. These companies are ten steps ahead of it. They are consciously making decisions behind closed doors to get around the laws. Just like in the 80s with African Americans and the "token" situations which were horrific, companies are filling their "token" disability chairs with the least offensive differently abled people as possible.
They can always say that, although you were perfectly qualified, and you interviewed well, you just weren't a good fit. That is the term du jour. You may have gone to Yale and your competitor to CSUN. The HR Manager questioned can respond to an investigator, "we felt as though the candidate's educational background might intimidate other team members."
If you have found ways around these clever tricks, please post them here. If you wish to join me in a fight utilizing a foundation and/or the media, PM me. I have an M.A. Cum Laude.
I apologize if this post seemed negative, I meant it only to be truthful and powerful. (sorry about grammatical errors)
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