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The Vine

The Tomato Nation advice column addresses your questions on etiquette, grammar, romance, and pet misbehavior. Ask The Readers about books or fashion today!

Home » The Vine

The Vine: March 12, 2002

Submitted by on March 12, 2002 – 12:06 PMNo Comment

Hey Sars.

I’m in a very similar situation to Philly, and I wanted to point her towards some useful resources. While I have a different type of seizure (and Depakote did nothing but make me sleepy, fat, and thoroughly bitchy), I’m faced with a similar question as I look for summer and permanant employment during law school: when and how to disclose. There are, fortunately, a number of resources available. One I’ve found particularly informative is the Epilepsy Foundation of America. They actually have a service called JobTalk where you can ask questions of experts — I’ve never used it, but it is there, and there’s a lot of reading material available at the site as well on employment and other issues.

I believe that the legislation that covers this is the Americans with Disabilities Act, although Pennsylvania might also have some of its own that goes above and beyond the ADA as well. Online databases like Westlaw or Lexis-Nexis, provide the full, searchable texts of state and federal legislation, regulation and court decisions, but they require a (large) subscription fee. Alternatively, the US Department of Justice has a homepage for the ADA at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm with the text of the ADA and a number of related documents covering compliance and enforcement. Pennsylvania’s state website might have some information on PA law for you, and the state library (as well as, likely, the local library) will likely have up-to-date versions of the state code in print where you’ll be able to get a hold of any disabilities legislation currently in effect in PA.

The bottom line is that if Fruitcake tries to fire you or discriminate against you, there’s recourse available. There are also lots and lots of us out there with the exact same problem, so there are tons of online resources available and lots of people who are willing to share their experiences and offer advice and help. Good luck with everything to Philly and thanks for the wonderful site to Sars!

A future lawyer in DC

Sars,

I wanted to respond to “Fruitcake’s employee in Philly,” so if you could pass this on, I would appreciate it.

I work for the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights. Our Agency is responsible for the Discrimination laws in our state. We work under cooperative agreements with our federal equivalents EEOC and HUD. EEOC has a very informative website, and the PA Human Relations Commission also has a site.

Discrimination based on disability is prohibited by the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is unlawful for an employer to terminate an employee based on his or her disability. Further, employers must make reasonable accommodations for an employee unless they can prove that it would represent extreme hardship. The definition of a disability (in terms of ADA) has become more blurry in recent times; the US Supreme Court has interpreted that the law did not mean to protect people when their disability was mitigated (an example: a person’s inability to see is mitigated by eyeglasses). Each state has its own discrimination laws, and Fruitcake’s employee should probably contact the state Human Relations Commission.

Based on my experiences investigating allegations of discrimination, I believe that the writer should inform her employer if she feels that she may need an accommodation. If she does not inform either her supervisor and/or someone in Human Resources and her work begins to suffer, she may not have the same ability to fight any adverse employment actions taken against her. If her employer takes action, including termination or terms and conditions of employment that are based on her disability, she has recourse. She can file charges of discrimination with the State or with EEOC. She should carefully document all communications with her employer in order to protect herself.

CZ

Dear Future Lawyer and CZ,

Thanks for your help. I can always count on the experts in the readership to pick up the slack for me. Philly, I hope you find this handy.

Baseball season is fast approaching, and I have a question of etiquette. When the national anthem begins, and you have a mouthful of sunflower seeds, are you supposed to stop cracking them for the duration? Spitting out seeds feels wrong, but holding them in your mouth without doing anything feels weird too, and makes them soggy (especially if it’s one of those 45-minute epics). I have tried keeping the seeds in one cheek and the empties in the other, but I am not that coordinated. What is a semi-respectful person to do?

Thank you,
Semi-Respectful Giants Fan

Dear Semi,

I think it’s a matter of timing your seed consumption so that you don’t have a mouthful when the anthem begins. Generally, at least at Yankee Stadium, you can tell when the anthem’s about to start. First there’s the warm-ups. Then Torre trots out from left field. That leaves a minute or two to finish chewing a bite of hot dog or doing housekeeping with the scorecard before standing to sing the anthem.

The order of the program probably differs at a Giants game, but when you see the familiar signs that mean the anthem is imminent, finish up your current seeds and don’t start on another bunch until after the singing is over.

If you do get caught with a mouthful of seeds when the stadium announcer tells you to rise, proceed as you normally would. Hum along with the anthem while disposing of the shells as subtly as possible.

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