In your responses to your peers, represent the opposing side in the scenario selected. Remember to stick to the facts and to avoid making assumptions or generalizations. All sources, including course materials, must be cited according to the most recent APA style.

You should use at least one scholarly or professional source other than the textbook. All sources, including course materials, must be cited according to APA style.

Peers:

As Janet K.'s attorney, I will begin by stating that the defendant discriminated against my client when they rejected her surgical position application and in their termination of my client on false pretenses following a seizure, a protected disability.

Firstly, the defendant claimed my client was a safety risk to herself and the patients but failed to justify this claim according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission'sstandards. The defendant is required to evaluate if a disability potentiates a "direct threat," if these findings are substantiated objectively, they are then to attempt to provide accommodations to negate the threat (U.S. EEOC, 2013). Although my client's seizure activity has recently increased none of her past seizures have resulted in serious harm to herself or any harm to others. There was neither a direct threat from her disability to herself or others, nor was there any disclosure by the defendant of an attempt to evaluate potential accommodations for the perceived threat(s) they claimed.

Second, my defendant was terminated following a documented biased directive from another employee claiming her protected disability damaged the defendant's reputation. The defendant filed the termination as a downsizing however my client was the only victim of this cut. This was a clear, direct response of the defendant to what they perceived as a threat to their reputation that my client's disability presented. Instead of terminating my client for how her protected disability could disparage their healthy image the defendant and their senior employee could have propelled their reputation by supporting my client. Epilepsy is manageable in the workplace with the proper accommodations, be it in the medical records department or the OR suite.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2013, May 13) Epilepsy in the Workplace and the ADA. Epilepsy in the Workplace and the ADA | U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (eeoc.gov)