Is "coming out" with your medical diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease
during the selection/hiring process for employment a good thing or not? Most
people on this list seem to indicate that such "coming out" is a good thing
and that not telling that information to the prospective empoyer is a lie.
Is it? I think it is an individual matter, and each of us makes that
decision based upon: (1) our legal knowledge/situation: (2) our
economic/financial situation: (3) our conscience, our morals, our ethics, and
if we decide to disclose that medical information, the "coming out," as it
has been labelled on this list, then each of us still has that question of
exactly (4) when do we disclose that information, when is it appropriate,
most beneficial to us, most expedient, to disclose that information.
(1) Discrimination in employment based upon handicap/disiblity is a
developing area of law, and the law varies by state, but the standard, the
bottom-line is can the person/employee perform the job, perform the job with
reasonable accommodations made by the employer. I think that the issue of
discimination based upon handicap/disability at the time of job
selection/hiring occurs less often in the caselaw, and is harder to prove,
than the issue of discrimination when the person is already defined an
employee. To my knowledge there is no legal obligation, state or federal,
for a job applicant to affirmatively disclose that person's medical
condition. The law generally protects a person's, and an employee's,
disclosure of medical information. Medical information is private and
confidential, and is disclosed only after a signed release of information by
the person or after being mandated by state or federal law or by an order of
a court of law.
(2) I would think most people with Parkinson's Disease, or whatever
handicap/disability, ailment or disease, are going to apply for jobs for
which they legitimately think and/or feel they are qualified to perform or
qualified to perform with reasonable accommodations by the employer. Unless,
of course, the economic/financial situation of the person is such that a job,
any job, even a job for which the person is overqualified for or
underqualified for, is critical.
I personally think that, unless you have very specialized skills; your
skills are in demand; or you are applying for a job in a large organization
where papers, people, and information do not cross paths or where the
employer is knowledgable or sophiticated about employment discrimination,
specifically about the American Disabilities ACT (ADA) and discrimination
based upon handicap/disability, you will not be hired when you disclose you
have Parkinson's Disease. And your subsequent legal case, or attempt to
pursue a legal case, may go nowhere because this type of discrimination at
the hiring stage is difficult to prove and most employers, even small, local
employers, nowdays, are learning what to do/what not to do, what to say/what
not to say during the selection process. Your economic/financial bottom-line
is, if you need this job, you need the income, you have to support, or help
support, a household of whatever size or composition, you probably should not
risk disclosing your medical information, at this point time, or maybe not at
all.
Your decision to disclose, is going to be a tough one, and your
economics/finances is probably going to weigh most heavily in your decision.
And, and, also keep in mind, even if you decide to disclose, think very
carefully about (4) WHEN you do that. This step, at the selection/hearing
stage may not be the best time for you to disclose this information. Think
about when it is likely that this information could be disclosed on its own,
spontaneously, and when you would like, when it is most advantageous for you,
based upon all factors, to have this information disclosed.
(3) your conscience; morals/ethics: Most of the postings on this
list on this thread indicate that a person should tell the truth and not lie,
disclose that you have Parkinson's Disease. And then, you will come out, and
you will feel good. That's nice. But, who says this dilemma is a matter of
telling the truth or not, of lying or not. If you characterize, label this
as a moral/ethic issue, it becomes one. I recognize that this is my legal,
my personal, hair-splitting, and semantics, but you are just applying for a
job. You have not received a job offer and accepted the job; you are not in
the workplace and knowing you cannot perform this job anymore every time you
get your paycheck; you are not keeping from the company doctor your
diagnosis, or you are not arranging to have your friend take that urine test
for you, when you know you have to pass that physical to get the job; you
are not George Washington telling your father you did not chop down the
cherry tree.
Why do you have to tell? And if you do decide to tell, why do you
have to tell at this point in time? And, (3) economics/finances will rule
here as well. You may benefit from some consultation here from your attorney
(and you should have an attorney by now) when you discuss (1) above, or
consultation with your family, friends, or your usual ethics/morals advisor.
(4) Timing, timing, timing. Very important here, as in most things.
If you are going to tell, or, as in the case of Parkinson's Disease, it is
inevitable that your co-workers, your employer will know, pick the time for
disclosure when it is most advantageous, most helpful for you. Linda Herman,
in her posting, wrote about how she did "not tell" in the hiring/selection
process, but "told" co-workers and supervisors, employer later on. I think
the reality of the workplace is, that if we disclose our diagnosis
information during the selection/hiring process, we will not be hired, or, if
we are hired, that information negatively skews the salary negotiation
process and we get less money, we come cheaper.
Like Parkinson's Disease this dilemma to "tell" or "not to
tell," and the resolution of that dilemma, is individual to the person. The
process of disclosure of this medical information can take many different
routes; the information may arise spontaneously at the selection stage or
elsewhere. The issue of reasonable accommodation may well dictate if, and
when, the information is disclosed. That always present issue of
economics/fianances may well dictate if, and when, the information is
disclosed. In some there is that compulsion, that requirement, to "tell the
truth" and "not to lie" that may well dictate if, and when, the information
is disclosed.
I suppose the medical doctors on this list cringe when we bandy about
medical information/ misinformation; I cringe sometimes when legal
information/misinformation is bandied about on the list--and when people ask
for legal information from non-lawyers. I was a lawyer for a long time, and
in the area of employment discrimination, before I jumped ship and went into
criminal defense work. I also have a master's degree in industrial
relations, and I taught employment discrimination at the university level for
five years. My caveat is I have a disability retirement, and I am not
up-to-date, by any means, in the area of employment discrimination. I have
have only shared a few thoughts here, and I did not research this. It is
the same as when postings on the list say get a MDS for your Parkinson's
Disease: if you are facing this dilemma, and it is, in my mind, primarily a
legal dilmema, and a specialized legal dilemma, I have to tell you to get a
lawyer who specializes in employment discrimination law, specificly
handicap/disability discrimination and the ADA.
BTW I was diagnosed with PD seven years after I was hired by my last
employer. I had another disability which I did not disclose at the time of
hiring/selection for that last employer. That disability was later
disclosed, and reasonable accommodations were made. Everyone knew about the
PD before it was diagnosed: I had something like a total of 67 sick days in
one fiscal year. Reasonable accommodations were made, and I took a
disability retirement in l999 at the age of 49.
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