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

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

Thank you,
Semi-Respectful Giants Fan