Workplace Bullying Costs Employer

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced the settlement of a disability discrimination and retaliation suit that it had brought against London Manhattan Corp., a meat distributor. The suit was brought on behalf of an autistic employee who was repeatedly bullied by his coworkers and was fired when he complained to management about a hostile work environment.


The harassment included tying the employee with masking tape, putting gel in his hair, littering his work area with pornographic pictures and wrapping his legs with plastic with a meat-wrapping machine…

The lawsuit was resolved by a consent decree signed by Judge Laura Taylor Swain on June 16, 2008 in New York. In addition to paying the victim $70,000, London Manhattan must also take substantial steps to prevent future workplace harassment. The company is required to: post and maintain EEOC remedial notices and posters; provide training to all employees regarding federal laws prohibiting discrimination; and adopt and maintain an antidiscrimination policy and complaint procedure. London Manhattan is also enjoined from discriminating against any individual on the basis of his or her disability and from retaliating against anyone who participated in the EEOC's investigation or litigation of this case.

"Employees with a disability have a legal right to work in an environment that is free from harassment and abuse," said EEOC New York District Director Spencer H. Lewis, Jr.


Although the United States' antidiscrimination laws often do not go far enough in protecting autistic workers from employment discrimination, workplace bullying is one situation where there's a reasonable chance of an employer being held liable for failing to prevent the harassment. With a few more lawsuits like this, maybe employers will start getting the message that tormenting the "nerd" isn't funny or a game—rather, it's illegal discrimination and can result in legal liability and negative press coverage for the company.

Here's a big YAY to the EEOC for recognizing that workplace bullying is a serious problem and for kicking some prejudiced employer butt!

Parents, Governor Denounce Autism Speaks' Interference with Pennsylvania Legislation

As reported on Yahoo News in a story from PRNewswire-USNewswire, the Pennsylvania autism advocacy organization AutismLink, which has the support of Governor Edward G. Rendell and Speaker of the House Dennis M. O'Brien, has issued a press release denouncing lobbying efforts by Autism Speaks that resulted in substantial changes to autism insurance legislation in Pennsylvania. As a result of Autism Speaks' interference, the bill "was gutted of all useful language" while in committee. AutismLink reports that parents are appalled by the actions of Autism Speaks in spoiling efforts to help autistic children:


"This bill was carefully crafted to end insurance discrimination of children with autism in Pennsylvania," said Cindy Waeltermann, President of AutismLink and parent of two children with autism. "Those who carefully crafted the bill understand the system in Pennsylvania. Although the bill has been endorsed by Autism Speaks, Pennsylvania families of children with autism by and large reject the bill."

"Make no mistake," said AutismLink Executive Director and parent of a child with autism, Rick Bryant, "The Autism Speaks team working on this bill is comprised of individuals from New York, California and Maryland and they are completely ignoring the advice and information given to them from Pennsylvania advocates and/or clinicians."

Speaker O'Brien agrees, "The current version of HB 1150 may look like it gives coverage to families affected by autism, but it's an illusion. This version will actually hurt some families who have kids with autism," said House Speaker Dennis M. O'Brien. "We must have assurances in HB 1150 that any standard used by the insurance companies is consistent with the minimum standard used by Medical Assistance. Otherwise, families who receive certain services under Medical Assistance are at risk of having those services denied by private insurance. This risk is unacceptable."

Lenore Wossidlo, a parent of a severely challenged child with autism in Pittsburgh agrees, "I am appalled at what Autism Speaks did to SB1150 to spoil it for these kids who can do so much when given the services they need. I stand behind the hard work of Speaker O'Brien."


The Autism Center of Pittsburgh also has denounced the current version of the bill.

The Needs of the Many

…should not be determined by the loud voices of the few.

I sometimes get commenters on my site who talk about the importance of considering the needs of autistic people with serious challenges and who declare that the discussion should not be monopolized by successful autistics who have a university degree, a career, a happy marriage, a house in the suburbs, a popular blog, or whatever the commenters' definition of success may be.

And then they're surprised when I agree with them completely.

Of course no individual or subgroup should ever claim to speak for an entire minority group. That's just basic common sense, and I've said many times that I speak only for myself on my blog. If I write a post that addresses a feminist issue, I don't claim to be speaking for all women, either. Nobody has the right to speak for all autistics. Period.

I'd like to see a world where millions of autistic people felt empowered to discuss their lives and their opinions on the Internet and elsewhere; to participate in public policy workgroups; and to speak out about their needs by means of voice, text, or whatever means they may find most comfortable. And I'd like to see a world where people actually listened to what they had to say.

Unfortunately, we are nowhere near that point, for a variety of reasons. I'm not going to point a finger at any particular group or philosophy; the main culprit, as with most social problems, is ignorance. Many governmental organizations and private groups still make policy decisions about autistics without seeking input from any members of the autistic community. The needs of autistic adults, regardless of whether or not they are deemed successful, too often are ignored.

There are no quick fixes for this systematic exclusion. As with other civil rights efforts, it's going to be a gradual process of putting more of our opinions into the public discourse and letting them percolate through the consciousness of the majority population. Here's an example of how this can be done: In New Jersey, a state planning committee has been created to focus on the needs of autistic adults. Ari Ne'eman, who is one of the committee's members, is requesting comments from autistic self-advocates, family members, professionals, and others who wish to contribute to the discussion. This will result in more opportunity for decisions to be made based on the views of a reasonable cross-section of our community, rather than on stereotypes and assumptions.

Clifford Shoemaker Sanctioned for Unwarranted and Unseemly Conduct

Here's a bit of advice for anyone who may be foolishly considering abuse of the legal process to harass a blogger: Don't mess with a librarian.

Virginia attorney Clifford Shoemaker, who attained instant infamy in the blogosphere two months ago when he issued a ridiculously irrelevant subpoena to neurodiversity blogger Kathleen Seidel in an attempt to intimidate her after she wrote about his vaccine litigation profiteering, has been sanctioned by the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. After the court quashed the subpoena in response to a well-crafted pro se motion, the court decided that sanctions were appropriate for Shoemaker's violations of Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b)(1) and Rule 45(c)(1) in serving "a grossly overly broad subpoena intended to harass."

The court gave short shrift to Shoemaker's rambling argument that the amount of information set forth in the blog entries was suspicious, observing that "Shoemaker has not offered a shred of evidence to support his speculations. He has, he says, had his suspicions aroused because she has so much information. Clearly he is unfamiliar with the extent of the information which a highly-competent librarian like Ms. Seidel can, and did, accumulate."

The court further stated that Shoemaker's "efforts to vilify and demean Ms. Seidel are unwarranted and unseemly" and that "Clifford J. Shoemaker’s action is an abuse of legal process, a waste of judicial resources and an unnecessary waste of the time and expense to the purported deponent."

Unfortunately, the court did not see fit to order Shoemaker to compensate Ms. Seidel for his waste of her time and expense. The court merely ordered him to attend a continuing legal education program on ethics and on the discovery rules in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The court did, however, direct its clerk "to forward a certified copy of this order, the motion to quash, the show cause order, and the response of Shoemaker and Seidel to the appropriate professional conduct committee of the Virginia State Bar in order that it may be made aware of Clifford J. Shoemaker’s conduct and so that those authorities may take whatever action they deem appropriate."

Perhaps there may be more sanctions in Shoemaker's future?

Autism Speaks, You Can't Shut Us Up

So, word has it that you folks at Autism Speaks are up to your old tricks again, telling your lawyers to intimidate Internet companies into taking down criticism from autistic civil rights activists. Haven't you figured out yet that this tactic is going to explode in your face like Wile E. Coyote smoking a big fat Acme Cigar every time you try it? Didn't you learn your lesson earlier this year when you went after that 14-year-old autistic kid who built a (clearly legal) parody site?

I guess not. Looks like you're such lumbering dinosaurs that you still think the world revolves around the media elite and you can do whatever you want. That's a dangerous assumption, you know. Back in April, a very foolish anti-vaccine conspiracist lawyer by the name of Clifford Shoemaker thought he could use a bit of legal thuggery to silence Kathleen Seidel. I won't bother linking to any stories about what happened to him as a result of that. You can just google his name to find the heap of semi-digested bones that are all that's left after Blogzilla ate him.

You see, we're not just a ragtag band of rebels any more. Spartacus now has a huge army spread out all over the globe. When you take down one website, you'll find a hundred more the next day. When you stop production of one T-shirt, a thousand more will be designed in response. We grow new heads like the Hydra. You can't shut us up.

Oh, you haven't read enough history to know who Spartacus was? Maybe you've been too busy hosting lavish parties with your donors' money and bleating for sympathy because you don't have perfect status-symbol grandchildren? Uh-huh. Well, that's to your own misfortune.

Let me put it even more simply: You thought it would be a good idea to try to eradicate us. We are returning the favor.

Edit, June 28: After further discussion with Zach, who is the designer of the T-shirt at issue, Zazzle has agreed that it is fair use and is allowing Zach to sell a similar T-shirt on the site. A Zazzle manager indicated that Autism Speaks did not complain specifically about Zach's T-shirt but had complained more generally about merchandise containing its name.

A Good School Is Hard to Find

From the "so weird I couldn't possibly make it up if I tried" file (thanks to Sarah for the link): School officials at Terry Fox Elementary in the Simcoe County school district in Ontario, Canada, made a report to the local child protective services agency that they suspected an autistic girl was being sexually abused, based entirely on the allegations of a psychic. As reported by City News:


Leduc's weird tale began on May 30, when she dropped young Victoria off for class at Terry Fox Elementary and headed in to work, only to receive a frantic phone call from the school telling her it was urgent she come back right away.

The frightened mother rushed back to the campus and was stunned by what she heard - the principal, vice-principal and her daughter's teacher were all waiting for her in the office, telling her they'd received allegations that Victoria had been the victim of sexual abuse - and that the CAS had been notified.

How did they come by such startling knowledge? Leduc was incredulous as they poured out their story.

"The teacher looked and me and said: 'We have to tell you something. The educational assistant who works with Victoria went to see a psychic last night, and the psychic asked the educational assistant at that particular time if she works with a little girl by the name of "V." And she said 'yes, I do.' And she said, 'well, you need to know that that child is being sexually abused by a man between the ages of 23 and 26.'"

…The mom, who is divorced and has a new fiancé, adamantly denied the charges, noting her daughter was never exposed to anyone of that age. And fortunately she had proof. The mother was long dissatisfied with the treatment her daughter had received at the school, after they had allegedly lost her on several occasions.

As a result, the already cash strapped mom had spent a considerable sum of money to not only have her child equipped with a GPS unit, but one that provided audio records of everything that was going on around her.


The child protective workers who investigated the report promptly closed the file and declared the report to be ridiculous. The mom withdrew Victoria from the school as a result of the incident, believing her daughter to be unsafe there. With no other place to send her daughter, she had to leave her job and is now seeking legal advice.

My crystal ball predicts a lawsuit and major media embarrassment in the Simcoe County school district's future.

Models of Disability

I spent the weekend enjoying the warm weather and the swimming pool and otherwise lazing around, and I don't have a Monday morning post. So I just thought I'd pass along this excellent disability rights link for my readers to enjoy:

http://www.ju90.co.uk/blog/dontiden.htm

Does anybody else think Charity Barbie looks kind of like Alison Tepper Singer?

That Must Be So Hard

During the Good Morning America segment on neurodiversity, Kristina Chew corrected the interviewer's suggestion that she was suffering because she is a parent of an autistic child. "I don't feel that I suffer," she replied. On Kristina's blog, a commenter named Sharon discussed how widespread this view of inevitable suffering has become, and how often she, as a parent, has to deal with this assumption that she must be suffering. Sharon wrote:


I know when I tell people that my sons have autism, the look of pity on their face and they say "That must be so hard."


Reading that comment, I was reminded of a conversation that I had almost 25 years ago with an older white woman, who was generally a nice and well-meaning person and who thought of herself as tolerant, but who—like many of her generation—had more racial preconceptions than she realized. We were talking about an African-American woman who had a light complexion, and I mentioned that her children all looked very much like her husband, whose skin was much darker.

I wasn't thinking about it in racial terms and just meant to comment on the children's close resemblance to their father; but much to my surprise, the response that I got—complete with a pitying sigh—was "That must be hard for her." Not sure what to say to that, I just stammered something to the effect that I thought she was happy to have three healthy children, no matter what color they were.

Times have changed, and it's been quite a while since I heard anyone suggest that a person of color must surely be disappointed when his or her child turns out to be darker. Most people nowadays would understand that this is a prejudiced and mistaken assumption that shows disrespect for both the parent and the child; however, it seems that very few people realize the offensiveness of making similar statements about parents of autistic children.

Granted, there are some autistic kids who did not inherit their autistic traits from a parent; but familial inheritance accounts for a significant percentage of the autistic population. (I suspect that the actual percentage is considerably higher than the genetic studies indicate, as it's likely that many multigenerational autistic families are choosing not to take part in genetic studies because of the possibility that the research could be used for eugenic purposes.)

I don't mean to suggest that pity is ever desirable, because it's not; pity always objectifies and dehumanizes those who are on the receiving end of it. Still, it strikes me as particularly obnoxious when our society is so ignorant—and so intolerant of diversity—that many parents who are autistic themselves, or close to it, are being told that their lives "must be so hard" because their children are like them.

The Unglamorous Details

Some people seem to have the idea that autistic civil rights advocacy is all glitz and no substance—that it's mainly about looking good to impress the public, such as by creating popular blogs, being interviewed in newspapers and magazines, appearing on Good Morning America, and so forth. The detractors ask: How is the neurodiversity movement helping those autistic people who are struggling with serious difficulties in their daily lives and who are not writing blogs or making media appearances?

In fact, like other civil rights efforts throughout history, most of the work is being done in the trenches, quietly and with no fanfare. When an autistic employee makes the difficult decision to be "out" in the workplace and to talk about his or her differences with co-workers and managers, this is autistic civil rights advocacy, and it is helping to make our workplaces more understanding and accommodating for people with neurological differences. When a parent actively seeks to improve a school district's policies to ensure that autistic children are included in school activities and that their teachers receive the proper training to understand their needs, this also is autistic civil rights advocacy.

The Central Pennsylvania chapter of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, led by ASAN's vice president Scott Robertson, announced yesterday that its advocacy efforts helped to obtain the federal government's approval of a Medicaid waiver for autistic adults in Pennsylvania. This waiver, which is the first such waiver in the United States that is specific to autistic adults, will benefit autistic adults in Pennsylvania who have self-care difficulties and who are not currently receiving services. Funds will be provided to enable access to needed supports and services for housing, employment, other activities of daily living, and integration in the community.

You probably won't see anything about this Medicaid waiver on the mainstream news sites, and the recipients are not likely to be writing popular blogs or making media appearances. It's not much of a story—unless you happen to be one of the recipients, that is. Because of the advocacy efforts of the autistic civil rights movement, they will now be able to stay in their own homes and hold productive jobs in the community, rather than being warehoused in institutions or group homes. This is how the neurodiversity movement is helping to improve the lives of real people in our community—through sustained and committed efforts, most of which are made with no cameras around anywhere.

No Satisfaction for Hillary

I was planning to post this entry about three months ago, when it became obvious to everyone but Hillary Clinton herself that she had no chance of winning the Democratic nomination, but her campaign just kept on stumbling around like a dinosaur that had such a rudimentary nervous system it didn't know it was dead after its head got cut off. But finally, the time to put her in the Curebie Graveyard has come. So without further ado, and with a generous sprinkling of garlic cloves and holy water around the gravesite to keep the undead creature from rising, I present Hillary's tombstone:





For her eulogy, I've chosen the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction."


I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no satisfaction
'cause I try and I try and I cry and I cry
I can't get no, I can't get no

When I'm panderin' for votes
and kissin' up to Autism Speaks
and they're tellin' me more and more
about some research that could affect 'em
supposed to cure and prevent the spectrum
I can't get no, oh no no no
Hey hey hey, that's what I say

I can't get no satisfaction
I can't get no satisfaction
'cause I try and I try and I cry and I cry
I can't get no, I can't get no

When I'm workin' on policy
and the Wrights come by to tell me
how pure the gene pool can be
Autistics can't be human 'cause they don't have
the same kind of brain as me
I can't get no, oh no no no
Hey hey hey, that's what I say

I can't get no satisfaction
Can't get past the voters' gut reaction
'cause I try and I try and I cry and I cry
I can't get no, I can't get no

When I'm campaignin' all around
and I'm doin' this and I'm promisin' that
and there's not a vote to be found
I got my overconfident butt kicked into next week
How did I get on this losing streak?
I can't get no, oh no no no
Hey hey hey, that's what I say

I can't get no, I can't get no
I can't get no satisfaction
No satisfaction, no satisfaction, no satisfaction