Posts Tagged ‘ Job Discrimination ’

Employers vs Sick Employees: Whose Side Are You On?

September 14th, 2010. By Hunter West

The recent spate of incidents where employees have been unjustly fired for health issues through no control of their own leaves an unsavory aftertaste, and paints employers guilty of such conduct as mean-spirited. A case in point is the former employee of a Michael’s store who felt pressured to return to work early after a double mastectomy, only to be fired soon after while continuing to undergo chemotherapy. 

As inconvenient as it might be to have a vital employee sidelined for health issues, basic human rights suggest that the employer has a moral obligation to stand behind an employee who is suffering. There are also legal requirements to that end. 

Nor should an employee who has health issues through no fault of his own—but still capable of working—find himself shut out by an employer, and from a job he needs and is quite capable of doing, just because he is not the pristine specimen that may fit the company profile. 

Employees who suffer health discrimination in the workplace can, and do fight back. Recently a breast cancer patient sued her former employer for what she claimed to be an unjust firing and was awarded millions in compensation. 

But there are two sides to every issue—and it can go both ways. 

To wit, employees have to take some responsibility for their own health. When they fail to do so, who can blame an employer for feeling angry and betrayed? 

How long have we known that smoking kills? And yet there are those who smoke like a Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Employment, Job Discrimination, Sick Workers, Wellness, Workplace Discrimination
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