Discrimination

After being diagnosed with any illness, especially a serious one such as cancer, other areas of your life are unfortunately affected as well. When your health does affect your employment, the last thing you expect is to be confronted with harassment or the threat of losing your job, income and health benefits. Despite significant gains in cancer survival rates and the passage of the ADA, people with cancer still experience barriers to equal job opportunities. One reason individuals with cancer face discrimination at work is their supervisors' and co-workers' misperceptions about their ability to work during and after cancer treatment. Even when the prognosis is excellent, some employers expect that a person diagnosed with cancer will have long absences from work or not be able to focus on duties.

Keep a detailed journal of all incidents including the date, time and what was said and by who as well as when you sought assistance from managers to resolve the matter. Ask for a meeting with our manager, human resources or union depending on you company set up. Come to the meeting organized with detailed facts and your concerns. If you have suggestions offer them as well. Under the ADA, it prohibits harassment based on disability just as other federal laws prohibit harassment based on race, sex, color, national origin, religion, or age. Harassment is actionable under the ADA when a person is subjected to offensive conduct that is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a hostile or abusive work environment. Employees who believe that they have been harassed because of cancer may file a charge with the EEOC if you still find your personalized meetings are not resolved to your satisfaction. Keep in mind that the charge must be filed by mail or in person with the local EEOC office within 180 days from the date of the alleged violation.

Patient Advocate Foundation's publication "First My Illness, Now Job Discrimination" is a good resource as well.

After being diagnosed with any illness, especially cancer, other areas of your life are unfortunately affected as well. When your health does affect your employment, the last thing you expect is to be confronted with harassment or the threat of losing your job, income and health benefits. Our publication, First My Illness, Now Job Discrimination (http://www.patientadvocate.org/index.php?p=122) is designed to empower you to fully understand what your rights are, to assist you with direction in filing a claim of discrimination and to help you deal with job discrimination.

I concur with Tanya's recommendations as documentation of the events you feel are discriminatory is important. Discrimination can come in all forms and if you dealing with needing time off from work to undergo treatment, depending on the size of the employer and how long you have been employeed with them you can qualify for up to 12 weeks of Family Medical Leave (FMLA) allowing you protected time away from work.

If you find that your Human Resources is not helpful or your still having challenges you can file a complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) at 800-669-4000 or contact Patient Advocate Foundation at 800-532-5274.