[blindlaw] FW: The Wall Street Journal: When It Comes to Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias

Rod Alcidonis, Esq. attorney at alcidonislaw.com
Wed Mar 20 17:59:56 UTC 2013


The study did not tell me much I did not know. I always know that companies 
have been putting up a show by hiring a few blind employees to make 
themselves look good but not really because the person was the "most 
qualified for the job." It hurts when one knows that he/she did not get a 
job and it was because of his/her blindness and not due to a lack of 
qualification. I have been there and it feels terrible.

The organized blind movements must seriouslly consider enhancing the 
approach at educating the public about blindness to also focus on 
employment. There is a serious lack of understanding out there. Crazy.

Rod Alcidonis, Esq.
Alcidonis Law Office
2824 Cottman Avenue
Suite 15
Philadelphia, PA 19149
O: (215) 305-8085
Attorney at alcidonislaw.com
www.alcidonislaw.com

Personal injury, Immigration, and No-fault divorce/custody
-----Original Message----- 
From: Michael Fry
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 11:43 AM
To: Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] FW: The Wall Street Journal: When It Comes to 
Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias

An interesting article.  Thanks for posting it.  The reality is that a
visually impaired person trying to get hired has an uphill battle that is
almost unimaginable to most of the general work force.

I have a job as a government attorney.  I am so grateful for it.  I'm
leaving it, however, since I'm moving because my wife was accepted into a
great business school across the country.  I am so worried that I won't
find another job, especially as an attorney.

When I weight all the factors, it's clear that she and I are making the
right move.  Nonetheless, this terrible anxiety about finding a new job is
a direct result of my visual impairment.  If I had normal vision, finding a
new job would be so much easier than it is going to be because of my visual
impairment.

Has anyone ever had the experience of going from practicing law to the
Business Enterprise Program?  Is any one in the business enterprise
program?  If so, what is your experience with it?  How much money does a
BEP person make?

Mike

On Wed, Mar 20, 2013 at 6:02 AM, Norman, Gary C. (CMS/OSORA) <
Gary.Norman at cms.hhs.gov> wrote:

>
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: aavia at googlegroups.com [mailto:aavia at googlegroups.com] On
> >Behalf Of Barrett, Pshon (USAMSS)
> >Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2013 8:59 AM
> >To: aavia at googlegroups.com
> >Subject: FW: The Wall Street Journal: When It Comes to Hiring, Blind
> Workers
> >Face Bias
> >
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: FedAccessibility at yahoogroups.com
> >[mailto:FedAccessibility at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Jamal Mazrui
> >Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 4:37 PM
> >To: 'fedaccessibility at yahoogroups.com'
> >(fedaccessibility at yahoogroups.com)
> >Subject: [FedAccessibility] FW: The Wall Street Journal: When It Comes to
> >Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias
> >
> >
> >
> >The Wall Street Journal: When It Comes to Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >When It Comes to Hiring, Blind Workers Face Bias
> >
> >
> >The Wall Street Journal
> >
> >*         March 18, 2013, 10:27 AM
> >
> >
> >
> >By Leslie Kwoh
> >
> >When it comes to hiring blind employees, many employers remain skeptical.
> >
> >Bosses often assume blind workers cost more and produce less, according 
> >to
> >a new study. They also believe blind workers are more prone to workplace
> >accidents and less reliable than other workers.
> >The study, scheduled to be released this week by the nonprofit National
> >Industries for the Blind, polled 400 human-resources and hiring managers
> at
> >a mix of large and small U.S.-based companies. The group commissioned the
> >survey, in part, to shed light on why roughly 70% of the 3.5 million
> people
> >working-age Americans are not employed. (Legally blind Americans are
> >eligible for Social Security disability, according to NIB.)
> >
> >NIB president and chief executive Kevin Lynch described the survey 
> >results
> >as a "terrible surprise." With the exception of certain jobs that require
> >driving or steering, "there are very few jobs that a person who's blind
> is not
> >capable of doing," he says.
> >
> >
> >
> >The findings reveal a disconnect between what employers say and what they
> >do. While the majority of executives claim they want to hire and train
> >disabled workers, many view blind workers as an inconvenience.
> >
> >Hiring managers tended to be slightly more negative than human-resources
> >managers, but overall results were similar.
> >
> >*         Among hiring managers, most respondents (54%) felt there were
> few
> >jobs at their company that blind employees could perform, and 45% said
> >accommodating such workers would require "considerable expense."
> >
> >*         Forty-two percent of hiring managers believe blind employees
> need
> >someone to assist them on the job; 34% said blind workers are more likely
> to
> >have work-related accidents.
> >
> >*         One-quarter of respondents said blind employees are "more
> sensitive"
> >than other employees; the same percentage said they were "more difficult
> >to supervise."
> >
> >*         Twenty-three percent of hiring managers said blind employees
> are not
> >as productive as their colleagues, and 19% believe these employees have a
> >higher absentee rate.
> >
> >Blindness is largely absent from corporate conversation about employees
> >with disabilities with the exception of sporadic lawsuits: Last August,
> >Hawaiian Electric Co. agreed <http://finance.yahoo.com/news/hawaiian-
> >electric-settle-discrimination-lawsuit-140923965.html>  to pay $50,000 to
> >settle a discrimination suit by a partially blind employee, the AP
> reported.
> >And in December, Bloomberg reported that a blind ex-banker at the Royal
> >Bank of Scotland Group
> ><http://online.wsj.com/public/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=RBS.LN
> >>  lost a suit <http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-12-11/blind-
> >banker-loses-rbs-discrimination-lawsuit-at-u-dot-k-dot-tribunal>  seeking
> >disability benefits.
> >
> >Rarer still is news about companies like apparel business SustainU, based
> in
> >West Virginia, which hires blind and visually impaired employees to man
> its
> >factory, according to the New York Times
> ><http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/business/sustainu-an-apparel-
> >maker-turns-to-blind-workers.html?_r=0> . The company said there was no
> >difference in the cost and quality of its goods when compared to that of
> >other U.S. manufacturers.
> >
> >Companies may have to invest some money to provide "reasonable
> >accommodations" for a blind employee, as required by the Americans with
> >Disabilities Act. However,  says NIB's Lynch, many computers and
> >smartphones already have built-in features that enable users to change
> font
> >size and light intensity. Installing voice technology that allows
> computers to
> >"read" text to a blind employee costs just $1,500 to $2,000, he says. The
> >American Foundation for the Blind has estimated
> ><http://www.afb.org/section.aspx?FolderID=2&SectionID=7&TopicID=116&S
> >ubTopicID=70&DocumentID=2887>  that 88% of employee accommodations
> >cost less than $1,000.
> >
> >As for health insurance, company rates are determined by the number of
> >incidents among the entire group - not individual employees - no evidence
> >suggests that blind employees incur more costs than other workers, Mr.
> >Lynch says.
> >
> >Blind employees may also be more loyal than most, he adds. A DePaul
> >University study
> ><http://www.disabilityworks.org/downloads/disabilityworksDePaulStudyCo
> >mprehensiveResults.pdf>  from 2007 found that employees with disabilities
> >were likely to stay on the job four months longer, on average, than
> >employees without disabilities.
> >
> >The study also found that workers with disabilities took 1.24 fewer
> >scheduled absences than non-disabled workers during a six-month period.
> >But they took, on average, 1.13 more days of unscheduled absences.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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