Slashdot Mirror
Inability to Type Not a Disability
gizmo_mathboy writes: "The 9th Circuit Court has ruled that not being able to type does not give one protection/privilege under the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA). This article on Yahoo! has information concerning the case."
The minute I read the article, I realized what we'd be seeing in this thread on /. ... lots of modded up (+2, Funny) jokes about laziness, mocking posts saying RSI and carpal tunnel don't exist, etc, etc. Sad, really, that things are that predictable...
Obviously, not every single person claiming to have a disability actually has one. The guys with temporary paper tags in their windows filling up the handicap spaces so I can't park close enough to unload my walker from the car are very suspect... but just from what I'm reading here, this looks legitimate rather than someone being 'Lazy'.
And in her chosen profession, yes, not being able to type is a serious problem. As the third judge pointed out, in modern life in general typing is becoming more and more of a critical skill unless you wanna stuff tacos for a living. (CmdrTaco?) It's not fair to punt someone from the line of work they've trained for just because they COULD do something else that doesn't involve typing.
So, if you take as truth that we are dealing with a legit disability here and it's one that directly relates to her livelihood... the issue then becomes 'Well, what can be done?'. To that, I'm not sure. It sounds like lots of accommodations have already been made, to the point where they've run out of things that can make the situation more bearable for the reporter and allow her to do her job. I'm not sure if firing was appropriate, but they have hit a wall. That's the real issue here; not if she's faking it, but how can this be handled in a feasible and reasonable way?
The court made the point that she is not injured to the point that her daily life activities are impared. And even though she may not be able to keep up with the pace of typing at her old job, there are ways to be employed in her field that don't involve so much typing. She's not shut out of her field the way that, say, a truck driver would be if he went blind.
Does anyone have a right to be able to keep working at the same job after they get injured? What about minor league baseball players that get career-ending injuries, even debilitating injuries? They can't engage in their chosen profession anymore, and they haven't made tons of money yet so they can retire, but none of them claim disability. The good ones become coaches, and the bad ones go into a totally diffenent field. Maybe that's a bad example, because baseball players don't expect to be playing until they're 55, but you get what I mean.
Now, the job likely caused the carpal tunnel, but that's a different issue altogether. Regardless of what caused it, she has it now, and unfortunately has to live with it now.
I'm certainly not trying to make light of this woman's problem, because it is serious. I'm just wondering where you draw the line that says that a person can or can't find work in their field due to their injuries or disabilities. If a person can't continue at their job, but can do a similar job, does that count as being "substantially limited" in your abilities?
I hope I never have to find out.
When someone files for disability, they receive money from the federal government stating that they cannot work. Say some construction guy has been working on houses for 20 years and is finally to old and worn out (due to injuries) that he can no longer build houses or whatever. He files for disability to help him live. Well what happens when a 55 year old programmer has carpel tunnel or arthritis? I guess you should hope by the time you reach that age you can dictate your code to the computer. I think this is not as obvious as it first seems.
The dissenter said "the majority's ruling ignores the reality that computers and the ability to type and write are essential skills in the modern world."
But, the person in question _could_ type and write - just not fast and not for extended periods of time. A small minority of jobs require being able to type or write extensively.
Many fat middle aged Americans can't walk or run either fast or for an extended period of time, but they don't get away with disability allowance for that.
-----
for Taco. He was hoping claim a combination grammatical/typo handicap.
Where are the people who are against this decision...?
oh wait.
I've been there. Anyone who has read my posts may notice that I often swap letters in words (especially the - its often teh) Theres a reason and its not dyslexia :) A few years ago, I was working in teh yard after a big storm hit. Lots of trees down, etc. Was finally getting the stumps to a burn pile to get rid of them. As I was rolling a stump onto the pile, it rolled forward, grabbed my glove and rolled onto my hand. A small sharp piece of metal or something punctured my wrist (1/4' max) and severed 3 tendons to my fingers on my left hand - I couldn't move them at all.
After surgery, I had months of rehab to slowly get the tendons back into shape without ripping them apart. Typing was out for some time. I was an IT manager who did about 50% mgmt and 50% seniuor IT tech work due to staffin glevels. It was a HUGE imparment to my work. This was in 97 or so, and I tried ViaVoice and stuff. It kinda worked, but was brutal and slow. Todays technology may be better so this is moot, but in 97 it wasn't up to par.
My productivity was greatly impacted during my recovery. I can understand where this woman is coming from. Due to a failin gin the therapy of my fingers, the tendons for 2 fingers fused at the repair site and I've lost about 70-80% of the independence of them (ie they move together often) So for some reason I often swap letters in words as I type not even realizing it since my brain has been wired to move my fingers to type in such a way for years. My point is, inability to type is a serious issue!
In working for her employer she injured herself by working at a workstation that wasn't ergonomic. She got CT really bad (my Mom had it - she couldn't even pick up a coffee cup at the worst - she finally had her hand and wrist cut open and they managed to reduce the pain so she sould sitll code) Then her company let her go (though its nice they did try to accomodate her) Bottom line is she is seriously disabled and its got her fired. She deserves disability in this day and age - sorry - call me a bleeding hear tliberal if you want (you'd be wrong) but inability to type is a huge imparment. She'd have to have someone to transcribe her stuff which to a company vastly increases the cost of her as an employee - not likely in this day and age.
So before scoffing at this, just think what it would be like if YOU couldn't type. Sure you MIGHT be able to improvise and such - but your productivity would go WAY down - would your employer just accept that or get rid of you?
Top Most Bizarre/Disturbing Error Messages
Those who would give up liberty in exchange for security and DRM should switch to Microsoft Palladium!
She complains in 1994, so the paper buys her special office furniture to help. A few years later she complains and they give her an extended leave to recouperate. A few years later she complains again and the paper decides that they can't do anything else to help her so they let her go.
This is discriminatory? It seems to me that they bent over backwards to help her do her work. About the only thing they didn't do is inject painkillers directly into her wrists.
What are they supposed to do? They publish newspapers and are not in the healthcare business. Staff writers that, after that much accomodation, can't write are a liability.
Perhaps they should have made her do weight training excercises to prevent this kind of injury. Weight training has been shown to increase bone density, muscle mass and tone, joint stability and more. Face it: the human body was not designed for desk work.
What if you are an artist and become colour blind?
What if you are a pilot and develop mild epilepsy?
Hell, what if you are a sailor and develop severe sea sickness?
It's bad luck. Life sucks somtimes. You have to get on a deal with it. These days people think the world owes them something, that they have some kind of right to be compensated for really bad things happening.
There is no such right. If I get hit by lightening and paralysed from the waist down, our society will keep me alive. It will give me a home, food, some level of nursing care perhaps. Hopdfully my friends and family will give me something more. But society does not, and should not, give me recompense for my misfortune. It should not pay for me to go on disabled people's skiing holidays just because I could have gone skiing before. It should not require everyone and their dog to bend over backwards to make my life better. It does not give me any moral superiority over anyone at all.
Sometimes, life just sucks. It's nice to know that, unlike most people in the world, when we get blinded, crippled, or otherwise screwed up, we will not have to walk the streets in filthy rags begging, or to stare at the concrete walls of a hospital for the rest of our days.
-----