[Cinci-nfb] In case you want the whole "blind barber" storyFW: [DGV] Blind barber gets his cut

Thu Nov 12 19:34:05 UTC 2015

Exactly--but is iit this employer's place to be dealving into whether or not this guy has the blindness skills to get around the shop? Seems like the MA Commission for the Blind dropped the ball on this one.

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: Marianne Denning [mailto:marianne at denningweb.com] 
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2015 1:47 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Cincinnati Chapter List
Cc: dkkendrick at earthlink.net; Christopher Sabine, ONH Consulting; NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Cinci-nfb] In case you want the whole "blind barber" storyFW: [DGV] Blind barber gets his cut

I, like Deborah am mixed about this.  He should not be fired if he can perform the job of barber but he needs to learn the blindness skills to get around the shop without tripping over customers.  The company should have told him if he learned those skills he could continue in his employment. I hope he has learned those skills and is working in his chosen profession.

On 11/12/15, Christopher Sabine, ONH Consulting via Cinci-nfb <cinci-nfb at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Exactly.
>
>
>
> Chris
>
>
>
> From: Cinci-nfb [mailto:cinci-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
> tollebooth via Cinci-nfb
> Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2015 12:31 PM
> To: dkkendrick at earthlink.net; NFB of Ohio Cincinnati Chapter List
> Cc: tollebooth; NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [Cinci-nfb] In case you want the whole "blind barber" storyFW:
> [DGV] Blind barber gets his cut
>
>
>
> I love this. Who said blind people can't handle knives with great skill?
>
> tollebooth
>
>
>
> Note: this message was generated using dictation on an iOS device.
>
>
> On Nov 12, 2015, at 11:34 AM, Deborah Kendrick via Cinci-nfb 
> <cinci-nfb at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Again, this story isn’t perfect, but I think you will love it.
>
> My fellow journalists still have a distance to go in learning to use 
> politically correct lanugage, but this is a great victory.
>
> Read on and smile.
>
> Deborah
>
>
>
> Blind barber gets his cut
>
> http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2015/11/blind_barber_g
> ets_his_cut
>
> Man awarded $100G as firing ruled illegal
>
> Bob McGovern Saturday, November 07, 2015
>
> Photo by: Herald Staff
> Joel Nixon, a barber since 2008, who recently lost his job due to a 
> degenerative eye disease, poses for the Boston Herald. Photo by 
> Chelsea Nixon
>
> 6 comments
>
> A legally blind barber who honed his craft cutting his siblings’ hair 
> has been awarded $100,000 after a state agency found that he was 
> illegally fired by a shop that didn’t want a sight-impaired 
> scissorsmith on staff.
>
> “When it comes to hairstyling, I’m an artist and I take pride in what 
> I do,” said Joel Nixon, a barber who has been cutting men’s hair for 
> years. “When you’re in my chair, I don’t let you out of my chair until 
> they’re satisfied. My vision does not compromise my ability to do my job.”
>
> Nixon, 29, has been diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a hereditary 
> condition that affects his peripheral vision. He has trouble seeing at 
> night, and has been declared legally blind by the Massachusetts 
> Commission for the Blind.
>
> He was working for Tony’s Barber Shop in Norton in 2011, but a year 
> later his boss, Tony Morales, discovered his malady, according to the 
> decision by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.
>
> On March 3, 2012, Nixon was working at the shop’s South Easton 
> location when he tripped over a customer’s legs. Later in the day, he 
> tripped over a chair in the waiting room.
>
> “Morales told him to pack up his things and get his wife to take him 
> home,” the MCAD hearing officer wrote. “(Nixon) understood that his 
> employment was being terminated.”
>
> Things fell apart for Nixon after that, he said. He couldn’t find a 
> job nearby, and his wife had a high-risk pregnancy that made it 
> difficult for him to work far from home. He was unemployed for three 
> years, his condo went into foreclosure, and he was forced to apply for 
> food stamps and went to charities for Christmas gifts, he said.
>
> He’s moving his family to a small apartment tomorrow. Nixon also deals 
> with the lingering possibility he may lose his sight forever.
>
> “I could wake up someday and be completely blind, but my goal is to 
> have a nice home with a nice backyard for my son,” Nixon said, 
> fighting back tears. “I’ve never been to Disneyland, and I want to 
> take him. I want to take him before I lose my vision. I’m trying to do the best I can.”
>
> MCAD awarded Nixon $75,000 in lost wages and $25,000 for emotional 
> distress in a decision made public yesterday.
>
> Morales, who did not appear at numerous hearings and parted ways with 
> an attorney who was supposed to help him, said Nixon’s entire story is 
> a lie. He said Nixon was an independent contractor, wasn’t able to 
> carry his weight when he was with his shop and wasn’t a licensed barber.
>
> “It’s a bunch of lies. It’s sad that people like Joel try to take 
> advantage of their situation and create false accusations,” Morales 
> said, adding that he would hire an attorney and appeal the decision.
> “All of this is false accusations.”
>
> Morales no longer owns the Norton shop, but still runs the South 
> Easton business.
>
> An instructor who taught Nixon how to cut hair at the Massachusetts 
> School of Barbering said he was happy to hear that his former pupil 
> came away from the MCAD hearing victorious.
>
> “He was a nice kid,” said Chuck Russian, the school’s co-director. “We 
> were a little concerned when he said he was legally blind, but he did 
> the work, passed the course and passed the state board exam.”
>
> Nixon said he learned how to cut hair from his mother while growing 
> up, using a set of clippers the family bought at Wal-Mart. He fell in 
> love with the trade, “and it became my life’s calling.” Now, his 
> clients ask for him by name.
>
> “I have a following,” he said. “My clients call me the ‘Blind Barber.’ ”
>
> ©Copyright by the Boston Herald and Herald Media
>
>
>
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--
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053