Anyone Notice An Increase in Disabled Veteran Federal Employees Being Harassed?
Would like to hear from anyone who has experienced this. I have been hearing some stories lately that have me puzzled. People with up to date FMLA paperwork being told they can not keep doctor's appointments. Employers making extreme demands when its comes to work place accommodation requests. Terminations after one relatively minor event.
As we all know, veterans get first priority when it comes to federal hiring. And many of our nations veterans have been injured during their tour of duty, meaning that they have some type of medical disability. The Americans With Disability Act was passed to keep schools and employers from discriminating against those who can work with reasonable accommodations. If not for this law, every time an employee comes down with a diagnosis of cancer, he or she could find him or herself without a job (and insurance) simply because the employer could say "We don't want the uncertainty of an employee who may get sick. Young and healthy is more reliable."
As we learned after Vietnam, the private sector often does not want to take a chance with veterans and their (possible) disabilities, some of which are not always apparent at first glance. And so, many veterans work for the government. If veterans find themselves forced out of federal jobs, where will they go? And if the federal government is allowed to ignore the ADA, what about those who work in the private sector? Will we all become trash, to be used up and then discarded when we reach the ripe old age of 50, old enough to have heart disease and cancer but too young for Medicare?
