EEOC Commissioner Says Disabled Persons‘Forgotten’ Under Affirmative Action Plans

Bureau of National Affairs
Daily Labor Report
April 28, 2008
Page A-7

EEOC Commissioner Says Disabled Persons
‘Forgotten’ Under Affirmative Action Plans

In light of the 35th anniversary of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the 18th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, EEOC Commissioner Christine M. Griffin said April 23 the federal government and private employers still need to improve their efforts to recruit individuals with disabilities. ‘‘Despite that amount of time, individuals with disabilities continue to live on the outside looking in,’’ Griffin told attendees at the annual conference of the
American Association of Affirmative Action. ‘‘I think that it’s fair to say that the disabled, as a whole, are a community that affirmative action has forgotten.’’ Both statutes, Griffin said, were intended to create a level playing field and to stop employers from making decisions based on disability. ‘‘That, quite frankly, has not happened,’’ she said. ‘‘You have to be employed to be really free in this country. People with disabilities are not free in this nation.’’

For instance, individuals who can manage their disabilities through medication—such as those with diabetes, cancer, or mental illness—may be denied Rehabilitation Act and ADA protection against discrimination because they are considered ‘‘too functional’’ to have a covered disability, she said. Additionally, Griffin said courts are more likely than not to throw out disability discrimination actions and, as a result, ‘‘there are no plaintiff’s attorneys taking these cases.’’

Griffin also addressed what she called a ‘‘misconception’’ about the legality of including persons with disabilities in employers’ affirmative action initiatives. ‘‘Anyone who believes that affirmative action for people with disabilities is illegal is misinformed,’’ Griffin said. ‘‘There is no reason for any employer to shy away from having an affirmative action plan for people
with disabilities.’’

BLS to Collect Data on the Disabled.
Although Griffin acknowledged the lack of consensus on the number of people with disabilities in the United States—one estimate is approximately 54 million—she noted that ‘‘more are joining their ranks everyday.’’ Of this population, she said approximately 30 million people are of
working age, half of whom suffer from severe disabilities such as blindness, deafness, or paralysis. The unemployment rate for individuals with severe disabilities is the ‘‘highest in the country,’’ Griffin said. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is expected to begin officially collecting unemployment statistics for persons with disabilities ‘‘later this year.’’
Griffin said the federal government needs to improve its efforts to hire persons with disabilities. The disabled, she said, represent only 0.94 percent of the federal workforce. ‘‘This represents a decline in the last 14 years—a time when the government expanded by about 5 percent." ‘‘I think it’s very important that the federal government be the model employer that it was supposed to be,’’ Griffin said, noting that EEOC launched the Leadership for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities initiative in 2006 to improve the hiring of individuals with disabilities in the federal government. ‘‘I do be-
lieve state governments should be looking at this as
well.’’
Improvement is also needed in the private sector, Griffin said. She suggested that employers consider implementing affirmative action plans for persons with disabilities.
With baby boomers entering retirement, Griffin said employers could face a shortfall of about 10 million employees in the future. ‘‘Where are you going to turn?’’ she asked.

Goals, Mandatory Reporting Suggested.
Additionally, she said employers should consider setting a goal to have disabled individuals comprise 2 percent of their workforce by 2010. ‘‘It’s not enough to say that no one ever applies,’’ Griffin said. ‘‘Find ways to reach out.’’ Griffin said she personally would like to see more
emphasis on requiring employers to report the number of people with disabilities in their workforces. ‘‘This is my opinion and not the opinion of the agency—I think
we should be collecting this information about disability status on the EEO-1 surveys,’’ she said.