[blindlaw] Not getting certain assignments on account of disability

[Deepa Goraya]

I would be interested in hearing how to address this issue as well.

Deepa

Deepinder K. Goraya, ESQ.

Sent From My iPhone

> On Jul 12, 2018, at 12:37 AM, turab chimthanawala via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> I face a similar challenge to the one expressed by a couple of you on
> this thread.
> In my present work set up, while the seniormost member of the team is
> very enthusiastic and willing to delegate variegated assignments to
> me, her immediate juniors have a very regressive and narrow minded
> attitude towards me. The concern is that the aforementioned senior
> owing to her personal preoccupations is very irregular to office.
> Hence, I have to take work and report to her immediate junior. Due to
> her attitude, I am often left with lack of or even no work.
> Would appreciate suggestions to tackle this hurdle.
> Thanking you
> Best
> Turab
> 
>> On 7/12/18, Rahul Bajaj via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> Thanks, everyone. It is one thing to not give you some work after engaging
>> with you and mutually assessing the challenges that lie ahead, but it is
>> quite another to unilaterally make that decision based on some assumptions.
>> I understand that certain things which junior lawyers do may actually be out
>> of your reach, such as being able to quickly flip through a 500 page file
>> during the course of oral argument for your partner, but what I am against
>> is the adoption of what I call the Friday evening view of accessibility
>> versus the Monday morning view of accessibility.
>> 
>> Best,
>> Rahul
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Jul 12, 2018, at 3:48 AM, Angie Matney via BlindLaw
>>> <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I had similar experiences (not where I am now), except that in some cases,
>>> the partners involved told me this directly.  It is unpleasant, but it
>>> happens, and many factors can influence how we choose to respond to these
>>> situations. I also had other work from other sources.
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>>> On Jul 11, 2018, at 6:12 PM, Nightingale, Noel via BlindLaw
>>>> <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> When I practiced at a mid-size law firm, there were a few partners who
>>>> would not give me work.  Another partner told me that those partners had
>>>> expressly stated in a partner meeting that it was because I am blind.  I
>>>> had enough work from others so didn't do anything about it.
>>>> 
>>>> Noel
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Rahul
>>>> Bajaj via BlindLaw
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2018 6:23 AM
>>>> To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>>>> Cc: Rahul Bajaj
>>>> Subject: [blindlaw] Not getting certain assignments on account of
>>>> disability
>>>> 
>>>> Hi Everyone,
>>>> 
>>>> I am wondering if any of you have ever confronted a situation, in a law
>>>> firm or elsewhere, in which you were not given a particular work
>>>> assignment, ostensibly because of your disability. While it may not have
>>>> been articulated in as many words, the surrounding circumstances
>>>> unequivocally indicate that that was the reason. More specifically, if
>>>> the work requires you to travel outside the confines of your office/
>>>> chambers and there's some effort involved in making documents accessible
>>>> for you and the work gets given to someone who has not had as long an
>>>> association with the employer concerned as you have had.
>>>> 
>>>> The decision may be premised on some assumptions about your capabilities
>>>> as a blind lawyer - some mistaken and some correct. The mistaken
>>>> assumptions being that you may not be able to do the job within the
>>>> stipulated time-frame and that you would be better equipped to do other
>>>> work. The correct assumptions being that it will take you longer to
>>>> finish individual components of the work (even though you are in a
>>>> position to deliver the finished product in time) and there will
>>>> undeniably be some extra effort involved.
>>>> 
>>>> It may also be the case that the decision of the employer has nothing to
>>>> do with your disability at all - no one can state with certitude what is
>>>> the animating force driving their decision.
>>>> 
>>>> I am wondering what others think about how a situation like this can be
>>>> dealt with in a constructive and productive way, such that one doesn't
>>>> get left out in this fashion. Thank you for reading this and for your
>>>> considered opinion.
>>>> 
>>>> Best,
>>>> Rahul
>>>> 
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>>> 
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> 
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