Thanks to subscriber Jessica Elm for the link to: “5 Myths Employers Commonly Have About RA” by employment attorney, Kyle Ingram, who specializes in federal disability discrimination cases. The original video is about an hour long, with lots more info than this very short summary & illustration.
LINK TO ORIGINAL VIDEO: [ Ссылка ]
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The fact that my JUDGE noticed and questioned some of the 5 myths tells me they're on point! My hope is that this video will help some of you to recognize when you’re dealing with them, and help you find ways to handle your employer's myths. Even if YOUR case isn’t about RA, this video has some stuff you might want to know. For instance, EEOC judges CAN act as fact finders, and I put a couple of fun bits about that in this video.
Myth 1: "Accommodations aren’t needed unless an employee is facing an adverse action. "
Employers who believe that they don’t have to reasonably accommodate us until our career takes a hit are missing the whole point of RA… to even the playing field, so disabled workers have equal opportunity to compete in the workplace.
With some other types of discrimination, we also have to prove that we’ve suffered an adverse action… not for failure to accommodate. To win my claim, I didn’t even need to prove that NASA had discriminatory intent.
I proved it anyway, which led EEOC to conclude that NASA had acted in bad faith. According to Kyle's 5 Myths video, that probably bumped my award.
RELATED ARTICLE: [ Ссылка ]
Myth 2: "I’m not discriminating if I’m treating everybody the same."
My boss told me accommodating me wouldn’t be fair to her non-disabled employees. Like a lot of employers, she believed accommodating me was like giving me special treatment... but RA isn’t special treatment. It’s only fair.
Myth 3: "If I provide SOME accommodation, that’s all I need to do."
I worried because NASA gave me an official form saying they were reasonably accommodating me. But what they gave me was only part of what I needed. The law says employers have to *PROVIDE* *EFFECTIVE* RA. Partial RA may not be effective.
If your employer is hiding behind partial compliance, let them know in writing that their fake accommodations are ineffective… and remind them at strategic points along the way. I did, and all those emails I sent were proof that NASA never actually provided me with EFFECTIVE RA.
Myth 4: "I only need to accommodate the essential functions of the job. "
I requested telework as a reasonable accommodation for days when I had specific symptoms. On paper, NASA granted my request, but at my hearing, my boss admitted she only let me telework when she urgently needed me to do an essential function of my job.
When I asked to telework for the day, she’d have me list the tasks I’d be working on, and how long each would take. If I told her a task would take four hours, she’d approve two. If I told her I needed to respond to emails or answer phone calls, she’d zero out those hours and tell me those tasks could wait until I got back in the office. In the end, she'd approve about half of the telework hours I requested.
That level of nit-picking over hours drew the judge’s attention at my hearing, and he asked my boss some questions that were fun to watch. I even made some DRAMATIZED cartoon illustrations. :)
Myth 5: "I Can Take My Time. There’s no requirement that I do it NOW. "
According to EEOC, NASA delayed acting on my RA request for too long. NASA was full of excuses about why it took them so long. The judge had more fun questions about that.
MY CONCLUSION?
Kyle Ingram's "5 Myths" are on point. I didn’t know about these myths when I was going through the process, so I was constantly wondering wtf is NASA trying to do now... and why!?!
The 5 myths explained a lot.
My EEOC judge did know about the myths & questioned them. Your judge may not, so it’s worth learning to recognize and call out the myths for yourself.
---- All opinions are my own. NOT LEGAL ADVICE. I am not an attorney, just an employee who went through the EEOC process & won. I am not an expert at all things EEOC. While I do my best to be factual in my observations, viewers should assume that any observations or statements are ALLEGEDLY. Never trust your fate to a YouTube content creator. Do your own research, pilot your own vessel.
--- Background photo on thumb courtesy of searchable NASA Image Library: [ Ссылка ]
0:00 – 0:56 Meet Employment Attorney Kyle Ingram
0:57 – 2:01 Myth 1: No Adverse Impact = No RA Needed
2:02 – 2:32 Myth 2: “The Same” = “Fair”
2:33 – 3:26 Myth 3: Something is Better than Nothing
3:27 – 5:11 Myth 4: Just the Essentials
5:12 – 5:59 Myth 5: No Rush
6:00 – 6:57 Employer “Myths” Cause Real Trouble
