[nfbmi-talk] Fw: we are all punished for being disabled

[David Robinson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: joe harcz Comcast 
To: David Robinson NFB MI 
Cc: terry Eagle ; Mark Eagle ; Larry Posont NFBMI Pres. ; Eleanor Canter ; Darma Canter ; Norm DeLisle ; Jill Gerrie ; Bill Earl MI ADAPT ; Leigh Campbell-Earl 
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2015 8:02 AM
Subject: we are all punished for being disabled


Re: Story After Signature Line

 

So what has happened to Executive Directive 2014-1, the much lauded administration program for hiring more people with disabilities in Michigan State Government?  It is interesting to point out that the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons hasn’t hired one, and I repeat one legally blind person that I can find since Governor Snyder abolished the former Michigan Commission for the Blind. And what has happened to my documented complaints with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights about even basic access for people who are blind to DHHS programs, services and even basic paperwork in alternate formats? By the way thousands of web pages still are inaccessible to us in spite of claims by the so-called ADA Compliance Officer Sharon Ellis.

 And isn’t it interesting that DHHS basically runs in to the ground our Vocational Rehabilitation programs and our independent living programs here and is in bed with the likes of MARO and Peckham who run sheltered workshops and pay people with disabilities sub-minimum wages?  Of, course they have destroyed every avenue of consumer control by people with disabilities over these institutions here in this state. They say they know what is good for us. They are  the able-bodied bloodsuckers that abuse us and then ask us to kiss their backsides for crumbs. . They know what is good for them!

 

 

And isn’t it interesting that many DHHS run entities including DHHS itself and Michigan Rehab Services and the bogus, Michigan Council of Rehabilitation Services, with the likes of Mitch Tomlinson, of Peckham on the board all had their hands in the civil rights debacle called a “Celebration of the ADA” on September 17?

 

This stuff is disgusting hypocrisy and worse.

 

Nothing About Us Without Us!

 

 

Joe Harcz

 

NFB, MI and ADAPT

 

 

Disability worker: DHHS punished me for having MS

 Justin A. Hinkley,

Lansing State Journal 7:03 a.m. EDT October 28, 2015

BeckyHart_2Buy Photo

 

Becky Harte fills out paperwork in the waiting area outside her doctor's office at the MSU Clinical Center on Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. Harte, an employee

of the Department of Health & Human Services, is suing the state, alleging she was discriminated against because she has multiple sclerosis.(Photo: Dave

Wasinger/The Lansing State Journal)Buy Photo

 

LANSING – A state employee who helped Michiganders get disability benefits is now suing the state for allegedly discriminating against her because of her

own disability.

 

Becky Harte, a 39-year-old DeWitt woman who’s worked for the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services since 2000, alleges in court filings that, over

the last 10 years, her managers at the department have penalized her because she has multiple sclerosis. DHHS supervisors have denied her promotions and

written her up for taking time off to deal with her illness, she said.

 

“I feel like I’ve lost the past 10 years of my life, and I don’t know what a person does with that,” Harte said in an interview with the State Journal last

week. “The state’s supposed to lead by example.”

 

In court filings, the department said Harte was not promoted because there were more qualified candidates and called her claims of discrimination “speculation

and conjecture.”

 

Department spokesman Bob Wheaton declined to comment on the specifics of the case because of the pending litigation, but said in an emailed statement that

the “department is very much committed to having a diverse workforce and providing equal employment opportunity.”

 

Harte is seeking $1.3 million , including attorney fees, non-economic damages and more than $28,000 in wages she said she lost because of the denied promotions.

 

Earlier this month, Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Joyce Draganchuk dismissed Harte’s claims to events that happened before June 2011 because of the

statute of limitations. But the judge allowed the rest of the case to proceed and a trial is scheduled for Nov. 16 .

Becky Harte sits outside the MSU Clinical Center Monday,Buy Photo

 

Becky Harte sits outside the MSU Clinical Center Monday, Oct. 26, 2015. Harte, an employee of the Department of Health & Human Services, is suing the state,

alleging that she was discriminated against because she has multiple sclerosis. (Photo: Dave Wasinger/The Lansing State Journal)

 

Harte said she was diagnosed with MS — an incurable nerve disorder that can cause fatigue, numbness, blurred vision and trouble concentrating — in October

2001, when she was working as a state family independence specialist. By 2005, she was working as a disability examiner and she sought a reduced and more

flexible work schedule and permission to handle more of her cases on paper instead of electronically because the hardcopy files were easier on her symptoms.

 

Harte claims in court filings that her requests were stalled until she filed a grievance through her union and it wasn’t until 2006 that a settlement was

reached. She was transferred to an examiner position within DHHS’s

Medical Review Team,

a specialized unit which helps determine whether Michiganders are eligible for state disability benefits. She was allowed to work fewer hours and was given

other accommodations to help her handle the MS symptoms.

 

Harte said that transfer was technically a promotion, but she was never given the appropriate pay raise. She said she’s been denied numerous promotions

since then and the department left some positions unfilled when she was the only candidate.

 

In January 2012, Harte filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The EEOC determined in May 2013 that “the evidence supports”

Harte’s claim that DHHS violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and ordered her and the department to negotiate a resolution, according to

court records.

 

In its Ingham County court filings, the department said it had “a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for not promoting her — namely that plaintiff failed

to convince the interview panel members that she was the most qualified candidate.”

 

Harte claims the department retaliated against her for filing grievances and the EEOC complaint. She said the department has put her on corrective action

plans for taking time off through the Family Medical Leave Act because of her illness and supervisors gave her a hard time about using an older computer

monitor that is easier for her to use because of her symptoms.

 

Last year, she filed a second EEOC complaint, which is still pending. In January of this year, Harte said she was transferred back out of the Medical Review

Team and she’s been asked to handle more electronic than hardcopy case files. Her lawsuit was filed this summer.

 

In its court filings, the department said “even though (Harte) may subjectively believe that any purported unwelcome conduct or communication was because

of her disability, speculation and conjecture is not enough” for a lawsuit.

 

Harte has been on an unpaid medical leave since July. She said all she really wants from the case is to go back to work for the Medical Review Team with

the promotion she’d sought years ago.

 

Even then, “I don’t think you can actually say there’s any success when the history is so negative,” she said.

 

Contact Justin A. Hinkley at (517) 377-1195 or

jhinkley at lsj.com.