Defeating Discrimination
John Steigauf
at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,
where he's still fighting to protect the rights of employees.John Steigauf was fighting a losing battle with type 2 diabetes. Diet, exercise, and medication: None of it was working, he felt exhausted all the time, and friends said he no longer looked like himself. Still, Steigauf put off what he really needed—insulin injections—for fear he would lose his job.
When Steigauf, then 47, finally went on insulin in 2004, his health improved but his fear proved well founded: He was deemed unfit to keep his position of 14 years with United Parcel Service. It was more than a decade after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, landmark civil rights legislation that was supposed to protect Americans with disabilities, including those with chronic diseases, from workplace discrimination. But a string of Supreme Court decisions and lower court rulings had undermined the law's effectiveness, leaving Steigauf and others at the mercy of unsympathetic or uninformed employers.
A broad disability rights coalition, including advocates from the American Diabetes Association, knew only one strategy could restore what the courts had taken away: pushing a reform of the 1990 law through Congress and the White House to bring people with diabetes and other chronic medical conditions back under the legislation's umbrella. Last September, after years of advocates' lobbying, President George W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, or ADAAA. The new law, which went into effect January 1, promises to bolster the rights of people with diabetes and many others for generations to come.
Comments
Comments are subject to review and will not be posted immediately. If you have an urgent medical question, please consult a health care professional. If you have a question for the staff of Diabetes Forecast, please send it to Mailcall@diabetes.org.Diabetes testing suplys
My health insurance thro my job was covering my testing supplies normally but has changed it now I must order thru liberty and thy put it trod my decidable if I go thru a pharmacy they don’t cover them at all I can not afford my testing supplies so I must stop testing. I feel this is wrong
dont stop testing
many drug companies will give you the testing supplies for free. Tell your doctor your having trouble paying for the testing supplies and they can give you a form to fill out and send to the drug company. Opra recently had information on this. My dad is a type 1 and he gets all of his supplies for free through his drug company.
I got fired for having type 1 diabetes
Just yesterday I was fired from my job of 3 years. When I asked why they could only come up with :its nothing you have done, you've been an ideal employee, but since it will take 5-6 months for you to get your DOT card we have to let you go. In my mind I was wondering why they didnt offer me the promotion I was promised only a month before they found out I had to have a DOT card because of my Diabetes. I had been doing the management job for months and had a letter of recomendation for the position, yet my boss never even notified me he was interviewing for the position. Then he offered the position to my co-worker who had only worked there 3 months and had no idea how to do the job. Does anyone else think I was discriminated against?
Diabetes discrimination
Yes, you have certainly been discriminated againist. Do not take this lying down. You have rights. Go to your Human Resource department on the job and talk to someone in charge concerning their employee rights policy. As for a form which should document their policy in the work place. Fill out an grievance complaint. Find out who the lawyer is for the company and make an appointment. If they do not cooperate than get yourself a lawyer. They should work with you on this.
Discrimination on the Job?
Please call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) and ask to speak with a legal advocate, who can help you determine if you may have experienced job discrimination because of your diabetes.
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-Diabetes Forecast
Why can't I find the information I need
I have been diabetic since 1994 and try to keep it under control with oral medications.
I recently got sick and decided it was time to pay closer attention to my diabetes and quit being in denial.
There is a diabetes center in a nearby town but my insurance will not cover the classes they offer.
I am so distraught over this because I don't want to suffer the devastating effects of the disease and I want to stop feeling guilty that I have it.
Please give me some guidance -- who to call; where I can go without worrying about insurance coverage.
Diabetic food unavailable
Shop at Wal-Mart and they are carrying less and less sugar free products. They no longer carry diabeti sweet so I have to order on-line. They have desserts for people that are non-diabetic in many different catagories but for diabetics they only have two flavors of pie, apple and cherry now. They used to carry the same kind in sugar free as they had in regular but, no more. They no longer carry things like sugar free chocolate chips, sugar free whipped cream etc, etc, etc. Even Giant Eagle company is carrying less and less sugar free products. I am feeling very discriminated against. I either have to purchase on-line or go without.
Working
All I want to do is work. But because I need to closely monitor my diabetes, I can usually only work part time. Also, my doctir us not happy with my availability at my job, 7A -11P, every day.
What can I do that will lead to a career with stable hours to help me to manage my diabetes?
December 7th 2011 laina
What about when DHS takes your children after you have already past two compassity to parent evaluations which include psychological and parent child internationals with two different PHD.s and both tests say you should have your child back and then they find another person 364 miles from where you live and say well you have to retake the same tests you took with this other dr.
icause they specialise in diabetes and we think the diabetes might effect your parenting and they are not willing to listen to my dr. that manages my diabetes and is te lling them that I not only have controlled type 1diabetes but that I have maintained being on the honor role for post the last 6 monthmys and that my last hemoglobin A1c was 5.4 which is actually a normal hemoglobin A1c for a operson with out even having diabetes so why should DHS be able to make the diabetes an issue and keep my child out of our home after 2 different PHD.S said I should have him back not to mention the fact that there is at least two other capable adults here at all times one lives in to make sure that if I did have a seizure or went into DKA that there is another responsible adult to take care of me and my children and then on top of that I have a CNA at my home from 11:30am until 8:30pm seven days a week and then my husband works on the rigs and is also there 24/7 every other week so how is this not discrimination especially when none of?my children have ever been hurt or have hurt anyone else and the only thing they can say that it's an injures inviornment but they left my 2 year old and took my 6 year old so how does this make any sense please email me at laina1973@gmail.com thank you
Diabetic
Seems like it has nothing to do with diabetes?
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