Legally blind barber awarded $100k for wrongful termination

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

BOSTON (AP) — A legally blind barber was awarded $100,000 by a Massachusetts commission against discrimination after it says he was wrongly fired.

The Boston Herald reported (http://bit.ly/1ME3w82) Saturday that Joel Nixon had been working for Tony's Barber Shop in Norton for a year before his boss discovered his condition.

The 29-year-old has retinitis pigmentosa, which affects his peripheral vision and makes it hard for him to see at night. He's been declared legally blind by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, and Nixon said there's a 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," a tearful Nixon told the Herald. "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."

FULL story at link.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/17eca96d895043429241335739f6b9ec/legally-blind-barber-awarded-100k-wrongful-termination

[jmowreader]

1. The ADA requires employers to make "reasonable accommodations"

If there's no way you can create an accommodation that will allow someone to do a job, the ADA doesn't say you have to put the person in the job anyway. (Insert bad Tim Tebow joke here...)

I cannot imagine how someone could make a "reasonable accommodation" that would allow someone who will soon lose his sight to perform a job that's about 80 percent visual.

[1monster]

3. He had been working for this boss that fired him for a year! before the boss

found out about the retinitis pigmentosa. It sure doesn't sound like he needed accommodation to do his job. And as long as he had enough sight to do the job, why fire him?

[Hoppy]

4. But the guy has tripped and fallen twice.

If he falls a third time and injures himself, does he get to sue the shop for Workmens Compensation or general liability damages?

[1monster]

6. I've tripped and fallen hard enough times that I have some kind of

arthritis in my knees now... And my vision (with corrective lenses) is fine. Vision was not a factor in the falls.

It is not such a huge concession to make sure the area is free from obstructions other than fixtures. The fixtures can be memorized. I once worked an entire summer on a multi-level stage that had little rhyme or reason, without my corrective lenses. I never tripped or fell once. A friend, who had 20/20 vision, tripped, fell and broke his leg.

So, yes, if the reason he fell was because someone left something in the middle his walk way, then yes, it is a workman's comp situation.

[KittyWampus]

5. Liability. If employee injures self or customer after owner made aware of condition

the owner/business would be held liable for sure.

[CBGLuthier]

2. I have a cousin with this condition. It took almost 30 years for her to completely lose her sight

From the article it sounds like he did fine cutting hair which was what his job was. Anyone incredibly near sighted could also trip over things while still being able to cut hair.

[Vinca]

7. What about the business owner's liability?

If the man makes a mistake because of his medical condition, it could cost someone an eye. I'm sympathetic to his situation, but I don't see how the business owner could do anything else. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen.